Ed Miliband Urges the Labour Party to Move On Following Starmer Offers Apology to Wes Streeting for Aggressive Backgrounding
High-ranking Labour official Ed Miliband has demanded the party to move beyond internal tensions after PM Sir Keir Starmer personally apologised to health minister Wes Streeting over damaging briefings originating from the Prime Minister's office.
Key Developments
- Ed Miliband confirms Starmer will fire the No 10 official responsible for targeting Wes Streeting if discovered
- The Energy Secretary dismisses any party leader aspirations, declaring his previous time as leader was the "best protection" against wanting the position again
- UK economic growth grew by just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, affected by the JLR security breach
Context
The internal unrest started after allegations surfaced about critical background comments from the Prime Minister's team targeting Streeting. Despite early attempts to minimize the situation, the conversation between the PM and Streeting apparently followed a more serious direction.
The Prime Minister apologised to Wes Streeting, the media have been informed. The conversation was brief, and they did not talk about Morgan McSweeney, whom the PM is now under growing pressure to sack.
Miliband's Response
In his morning media appearances, Ed Miliband highlighted the need for the party to direct attention on country-wide matters rather than internal divisions.
Look, I think the media briefing has been unhelpful, certainly.
But my message to the party today is quite simple, which is we need to focus on the public, not our internal matters.
We were given a significant victory last summer, a historic chance to change our country. And we have a major responsibility.
Growth Update
In other news, official figures indicated the UK economic performance increased by just 0.1% in the July-September period, with the manufacturing industry especially affected by the recently reported Jaguar Land Rover cyber-attack.
The Day's Agenda
- 9.30am: NHS England publishes its latest statistics
- Today: The Health Secretary visits Liverpool
- Today: The Chancellor makes comments to the press
- 11.30am: Downing Street holds its daily media briefing
- Morning: The Prime Minister highlights government plans for the UK's first nuclear power plant at Wylfa site on the island of Anglesey
