UK

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to fire his Downing Street chief of staff by former Labour home secretary David Blunkett.Lord Blunkett said the prime minister should dismiss his top adviser Morgan McSweeney and replace him with someone who can “manage people well”.The intervention by Lord Blunkett comes days after anonymous briefings by unnamed Downing Street sources claimed that health secretary Wes Streeting was plotting to replace the prime minister.Mr Streeting denied the allegation and said it was proof of a “toxic culture” in No 10.Sir Keir apologised to Mr Streeting. He later said he had been assured the briefings “didn’t come from Downing Street”, adding: “I will absolutely deal with anybody responsible for briefing against ministers, cabinet ministers or any other ministers.” Lord Blunkett said: “If I was Keir Starmer I would say to Morgan McSweeney, ‘You have got great skills, you helped enormously with me in building a winning team before the election. Now is the time for me to find you another role that you are good at and I will bring in someone with the overall experience that we need to be the chief of staff’.”He went on: “It is a particular role – it is about knowing about government and having been in a senior position where you have had to not only run the show but manage people well. It is not rocket science but it is a particular skill.”Mr McSweeney has been blamed by some within Labour for the fallout from the attacks on Mr Streeting, which were an apparent ploy to warn off potential leadership contenders.The prime minister has also faced calls to sack Mr McSweeney over the row. But sources who have spoken to Mr McSweeney told the BBC on Thursday he would remain in his post.They said: “He’s done absolutely nothing wrong. He’s not going anywhere.” They added: “I can categorically say he was not involved indirectly or directly.”Speaking to the Newsagents podcast, Lord Blunkett said if the government did not improve its performance it would pave the way for Nigel Farage to take power.He said: “We will be in serious trouble if we don’t get our act together, because the opinion polls are awful and the feeling of bewilderment in the electorate is palpable.”The unrest at the top of the party comes as Labour’s poll ratings have plummeted since Sir Keir delivered a landslide general election victory in July 2024.It precedes Rachel Reeves’s 26 November Budget, in which the party could rip up its manifesto promise not to increase income tax, and what MPs fear could be a bloodbath in elections next May in English councils and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. More

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to intervene in the row between Donald Trump and the BBC after the US President ramped up threats to sue the corporation.Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Friday night, Mr Trump said he would sue the corporation for “anywhere between 1 billion dollars (£759.8 million) and 5 billion dollars (£3.79 billion), probably sometime next week” after the BBC apologised over the Panorama speech edit. Mr Trump also said that Sir Keir had asked to speak to him, and indicated that they would talk over the weekend. The prime minister has now been urged to “demand” that Mr Trump “drops his ludicrous lawsuit” with the BBC, with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey saying Sir Keir has a moment to “stand up for Britain”. He said on Saturday: “This is Keir Starmer’s moment to stand up for Britain, for every TV licence fee payer in the country and for a free press that can hold the powerful to account.“When he speaks to Trump, Keir Starmer must demand that he drops his ludicrous lawsuit and stops interfering in our country. “The prime minister has spent months cosying up to the president. If he can’t stop him attacking one of our most precious institutions and hitting millions of licence fee payers in the pocket, what was it all for?”The BBC apologized, admitting that editing the speech in a documentary by its show Panorama was an ‘error of judgment’ More

Your Party has been hit by fresh chaos after an MP pulled out of the Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana-led project, citing “veiled prejudice” against Muslim men. Adnan Hussain also hit out at the “persistent infighting” in the group.It comes as the party’s founding has been marred by internal division, including rows over financing and leadership. Mr Hussain, the independent MP for Blackburn, said on Friday that he is withdrawing from the “steering process” of the party, and comes barely two weeks before the founding conference in Liverpool. He said he had initially agreed to support the founding of the party because he believed in “building a political home with mass appeal” and “a force capable of challenging the rise of far-right rhetoric”. Adnan Hussain said he had been disillusioned by ‘persistent infighting’ in the party More

Creaky, idiosyncratic, mice in the basement and with “doors that lead nowhere” – Number 10 Downing Street may be one of the most famous addresses in the world, but for many of its staff, conditions in the warren of poky rooms behind the famous door represent the perfect metaphor for the running of the state. While other countries’ executive branches of government are usually run from considerably grander buildings – for example the US’s White House, Germany’s enormous Federal Chancellery or Italy’s Palazzo Chigi – in Britain, the prime minister is expected to live, work and host official state meetings in a rather tired Georgian townhouse. After 300 years of near-continual use by prime ministers, their staff, and an army of civil servants, it is perhaps unsurprising that the “crumbly” building is reportedly held together with gaffa-tape, has fraying curtains, a lack of showers and has toilets which occasionally emit “a stench”.This is according to a report by Politico, which interviewed former staffers at number 10, and sets out a damning rundown of how the building’s age and (lack of) design at 10 Downing Street impacts staff. It raises concerns about efficiency, but also alludes to how the layout and the constrictions inherent in working in the building could even influence policymaking and inter-governmental communication. One particular issue singled out was the building’s poor mobile phone reception, which combined with the noise of soldiers on Horse Guards Parade, has meant people sometimes have to hang out of windows, or move rooms to find a place quiet enough, and with sufficient signal to hold a conversation.‘Keir hates it’ – working at Number 10 that is, – not the recent Christmas party the PM hosted for children More

Ex bank boss hits out at Rachel Reeves over economic growthUK borrowing costs have jumped and the pound has dropped after Rachel Reeves’ sensational U-turn on plans to raise income tax at the Budget.Ms Reeves had been expected to hike income tax in the face of a yawning gap in her spending plans, hinting as recently as Monday that the alternative would be “deep cuts” to public investment.But the Financial Times has reported that she has now abandoned introducing those plans at the 26 November Budget over fears they could anger both voters and backbench Labour MPs. Improved economic forecasting has also been cited as the reason behind the move.The tax rise would break Labour’s election manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance, or VAT.Following the reports on Friday, yields on 30-year gilts jumped by up to 14 basis points in early trading, and the yield on 10-year gilts also shot up 12 basis points – rising the most since July. The yield moves counter to the price of bonds, meaning that prices fall when yields rise.The pound also felt an initial shock as the markets opened, but then started to recover.Sarwar urges Reeves to scrap two-child cap in BudgetThe leader of Scottish Labour has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to scrap the two-child benefit cap when she announces her Budget this month.Anas Sarwar said on Friday he wanted to ensure the Budget would not see a “return to austerity”, reduced energy bills and tackled child poverty – which he said could be done by ending the cap.Speaking during a visit in Glasgow, the Scottish Labour leader said: “I think three things have to come from that Budget.“It has to be a budget that confronts child poverty, and that’s why I want to see the end of the two-child benefit cap.“It has to improve living standards, that’s why we’ve got to have a package to lower energy bills.“And third, we can’t return to austerity like we had under the Conservatives.“That has to be the fundamentally different approach this Labour Government takes.”Anas Sarwar More

Rachel Reeves’s former top adviser has joined leading economists in warning that her decision to abandon income tax rises in the upcoming Budget and pursue smaller interventions will “overcomplicate” the system.The chancellor was widely expected to hike income tax in her fiscal plans later this month to fill a significant hole in the public finances. But the Financial Times has reported she has “ripped up” her earlier proposals and will look at different ways to shore up the fiscal deficit.Prime minister Keir Starmer and chancellor Rachel Reeves have come under pressure in the lead-up to the Budget on 26 November More

An income tax rise has reportedly been ruled out by Rachel Reeves in a last-minute turnaround ahead of the Budget, amid fears that breaking Labour’s manifesto pledge could anger voters and backbench Labour MPs. The chancellor appeared to pave the way for significant tax increases in a major pre-Budget speech earlier this month, as she said “easy answers” were off the table.It is the starkest warning yet from the chancellor, who has been signalling over the past few months that hard choices will have to be made.But the Financial Times reported that she has now abandoned plans to raise income tax, which was communicated to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on Wednesday. While an income tax rise would help bridge the fiscal black hole, it would break the party’s promise not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT. Many economists predict that substantial tax rises can be expected in the Budget, as Ms Reeves looks to counteract the country’s ailing economic performance.Researchers from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) have found that the chancellor will need to find at least £22bn to make up a shortfall in the government’s finances, as rising borrowing costs and weak growth forecasts drastically reduce her room for manoeuvre.Chancellor Rachel Reeves will oversee Labour’s second Budget on 26 November More

Rachel Reeves has abandoned plans to break Labour’s manifesto pledge and raise income tax at this month’s Budget, it has been reported.The chancellor had been expected to hike income tax in the face of a yawning gap in her spending plans, hinting as recently as Monday that the alternative would be “deep cuts” to public investment.But the Financial Times has reported that she has now abandoned those plans over fears they could anger both voters and backbench Labour MPs.The decision was communicated to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on Wednesday, when the chancellor submitted a list of “major measures” to be included in her Budget on 26 November, according to the newspaper.An income tax rise would help her bridge a fiscal black hole estimated by some economists to be as much as £50bn, but it would also break Labour’s clear manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.Rachel Reeves may ditch plans to hike income tax at this month’s Budget More