Ed Miliband Urges the Labour Party to Focus Forward Following Starmer Offers Apology to Streeting for Hostile Backgrounding
Senior Labour Party official Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has demanded the party to move beyond internal conflicts after PM Keir Starmer directly said sorry to health minister Wes Streeting MP over damaging briefings linked to the Prime Minister's office.
Key Events
- Ed Miliband confirms Starmer will dismiss the Downing Street source behind for targeting Streeting if identified
- Miliband rules out future party leader ambitions, stating his past experience as leader was the "best inoculation" against seeking the position again
- British economy grew by just 0.1 percent in the July-September period, impacted by the JLR hack
Background
The internal unrest started after media stories emerged about critical briefings from the Prime Minister's allies targeting the Health Secretary. Although early attempts to downplay the incident, the talk between the PM and the health minister according to sources followed a more serious direction.
Starmer expressed regret to Streeting, reporters have been informed. The exchange was brief, and they did not discuss the chief of staff, whom Starmer is now under pressure to remove.
The Energy Secretary's Statement
In his early morning media interviews, Miliband stressed the need for the party to direct attention on national matters rather than party conflicts.
Clearly, I think the media briefing has been unhelpful, certainly.
But my advice to the party today is straightforward, which is we need to focus on the nation, not ourselves.
We were given a historic victory last July, a important chance to transform our country. And we have a historic obligation.
Growth Update
In other news, government statistics revealed the UK economy expanded by just 0.1 percent in the July-September period, with the manufacturing industry particularly hit by the recently reported JLR security incident.
The Day's Agenda
- 9.30am: The National Health Service releases its latest data
- Today: The Health Secretary is visiting the Liverpool area
- Morning: The Chancellor makes comments to the journalists
- Late morning: Downing Street conducts its regular media briefing
- Today: Keir Starmer promotes government plans for the Britain's first nuclear power plant at Wylfa site on the island of Anglesey
