30 h. ago ‘Their credibility has been shot to pieces’: Labour MPs turn on Starmer and Reeves

Income tax U-turn adds to mood of despair among party’s backbenchers

Politics

37 h. ago Anarchy in government as PM's 'nemesis' Wes Streeting celebrates Reeves' humiliating income tax U

Health Secretary Wes Streeting - seemingly emboldened by a botched Downing Street 'hit job' on his leadership ambitions this week - has publicly declared that he had not supported the move.

Politics

39 h. ago Markets get jitters after Reeves DROPS Budget plan to hike income tax amid panic that Labour MPs will oust Starmer but she could slash thresholds instead to fill £30bn black hole

The Pound has already taken a hit after the extraordinary U-turn emerged overnight, following weeks of signals that the move would go ahead.

Economics

40 h. ago Markets hammer Reeves after she DROPS Budget plan to hike income tax amid panic that Labour MPs will oust Starmer but she could slash thresholds instead to fill £30bn black hole

The Pound has already taken a hit after the extraordinary U-turn emerged overnight, following weeks of signals that the move would go ahead.

Economics

55 h. ago Starmer was never meant to be Labour’s prime minister – his leadership was doomed from the start | Neal Lawson

His alliance with the party’s anti-Corbyn faction was a shotgun marriage that totally lacked vision. Now Labour is paying the priceWes Streeting was always meant to be their Labour prime minister. The plan, hatched by a tiny clique of rightwing faction fighters, was this: find a candidate on whom they could fake a continuation Corbynism project to win the leadership. Then kick the ladder away from the people who backed them and the promises they made. At the next general election, given the scale of the Tory majority after 2019, get Labour back in the ring with more MPs and then hand over to Streeting. The real grownups would then be in charge and the subsequent election would be secured.But no one reckoned with Covid, Tory turmoil and the collapse of the SNP. Suddenly Keir Starmer wasn’t going to just lead Labour to a better defeat and a springboard for victory next time. Against the odds, he was going to win. Just as Jeremy Corbyn was Labour’s accidental leader in 2015, Starmer wa...

Politics

55 h. ago Starmer’s backers never meant him to be prime minister – his leadership was doomed from the start | Neal Lawson

His alliance with the party’s anti-Corbyn faction was a shotgun marriage that totally lacked vision. Now Labour is paying the priceWes Streeting was always meant to be their Labour prime minister. The plan, hatched by a tiny clique of rightwing faction fighters, was this: find a candidate on whom they could fake a continuation Corbynism project to win the leadership. Then kick the ladder away from the people who backed them and the promises they made. At the next general election, given the scale of the Tory majority after 2019, get Labour back in the ring with more MPs and then hand over to Streeting. The real grownups would then be in charge and the subsequent election would be secured.But no one reckoned with Covid, Tory turmoil and the collapse of the SNP. Suddenly Keir Starmer wasn’t going to just lead Labour to a better defeat and a springboard for victory next time. Against the odds, he was going to win. Just as Jeremy Corbyn was Labour’s accidental leader in 2015, Starmer wa...

Politics

3 d. ago A word of warning to the hounds circling Starmer: be careful what you wish for | Martin Kettle

With this level of unpopularity, the question of the PM’s future may seem simple. But what comes next could be nastily complicatedBe absolutely clear. Keir Starmer is in very deep trouble indeed. Perhaps belatedly, he himself grasps this. His team and his ministers knew it already. His party and the public get it too. For this deeply unpopular Labour prime minister, the words approval rating are a contradiction in terms.The eruption of speculation about Starmer’s future this week may have taken people by surprise. Where did that suddenly come from? The short answer is that No 10 briefed the latest twist – that Starmer expects to face and defeat a leadership challenge – on Tuesday evening. The longer one is that the Starmer leadership issue has been steadily gaining traction and credibility among MPs since the summer. This story is not a Westminster confection. Politically, it is very real. Dismiss it at your peril.Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago How could Starmer be ousted? 81 Labour MPs would need to back a challenger or the Cabinet walks out

Keir Starmer's allies have delivered a stark warning that he will not go without a fight if challenged.

Politics

4 d. ago Keir Starmer to face PMQs amid claims of potential challenge to his leadership

The Prime Minister will face MPs after a briefing war emerged on Tuesday night in an attempt to see off supposed challenges to his authority.

Politics

5 d. ago BBC warned it faces 'last chance' after Trump meltdown: Labour MPs scramble to prop up the broadcaster

The BBC is reeling after director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness stepped down in the wake of an internal report detecting bias and censorship.

Events

7 d. ago Starmer ‘facing plots to oust him’ as Labour welcomes back rebel MPs

Conversations around Sir Keir Starmer’s future have reportedly increased in recent weeks, amid continued turmoil in the government

Politics

7 d. ago Cutting aid for disease fund would be moral failure, Labour MPs tell Starmer

UK expected to reduce contribution to Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria by 20%A group of seven Labour MPs who served as ministers under Keir Starmer have written to the prime minister warning that an expected cut to UK funding for aid to combat preventable diseases would be both a “moral failure” and a strategic disaster.With ministers and officials expected to decide the UK’s contribution to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria within days, the letter renews pressure on Starmer to pull back from an expected 20% cut. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Labour MPs are 'plotting to oust Keir Starmer as Prime Minister'

The new intake of Labour parliamentarians are among those said to be discussing the mechanics of a future coup, according to reports

Politics

8 d. ago Starmer said to be facing plots to oust him, as Labour welcomes back rebel MPs

The new intake of Labour parliamentarians are among those said to be discussing the mechanics of a future coup, according to reports.

Politics

1 week ago Reeves to promise ‘fairness’ in Budget as income tax hike speculation mounts

No 10 repeatedly refused to say whether Labour’s manifesto pledge not to raise income tax still stands.

Economics

2 w. ago The public will recoil at a mansion tax. Unlike the unpopular Labour Party, most voters don't want class warfare: STEPHEN GLOVER

Starmer and Reeves are doomed - distrusted by most Labour MPs and detested throughout the land. Sir Keir probably won't be PM this time next year and Rachel will no longer be Chancellor.

Politics