Latest news with #ParliamentaryLabourParty
Daily Mirror
19-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer's blistering attack on Farage - 'not a patriotic bone in his body'
Keir Starmer told members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) that they have a 'moral responsibility' to beat Nigel Farage's Reform - which he said is now Labour's main rival for power Keir Starmer has launched a blistering attack on Nigel Farage - telling Labour MPs he "doesn't have a patriotic bone in his body". The PM went on to tell backbenchers they have a "moral responsibility" to beat him. In a speech to the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) he said Reform are now his party's main rivals for power and vowed: "We will take the fight to him." In a spiky assessment of Mr Farage's record, he branded him a "state-slashing, NHS-privatising, Putin apologist without a single patriotic bone in his body". The PM also referred to a notorious video which Mr Farage posted saying car giant Jaguar "deserve" to go bust because he didn't like an advert for the firm. He said: "We have a moral responsibility to make sure Farage never wins. We have to be clear that every opportunity he has had in this Parliament to back working people he's voted against. Telling the workers at Jaguar Land Rover they deserve to go bust." And he pointed to successes including Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) being protected by a US trade deal, rising wages, NHS waiting lists falling and school breakfast clubs. He went on: " Nigel Farage stands for absolutely none of this. But that is what working people want. A Labour Government on their side." Mr Starmer has ramped up his rhetoric on the Reform leader in recent weeks after a strong showing for the right-wing party in this month's local elections. The EU-reset deal - which aims to tackle some of the damaging aspects of Boris Johnson's botched Brexit agreement - will set up another clash between the leaders. The PM said the landmark agreement is a "win-win" and said it gives the UK "unprecedented" access to EU markets. But Mr Farage branded it a "surrender", even before the details were announced. Mr Starmer will likely keep referring back to a video the Reform leader posted in November last year voicing his displeasure over a Jaguar rebranding. Mr Farage said at the time: "I predict that Jaguar will now go bust. And you know what? They deserve to." He was riled when the company changed its logo and ran an advert that he did not like. The company was rocked in April when US President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on car imports, putting thousands of UK jobs at risk. Earlier this month the White House dropped this levy on British cars in a major victory for the Government. But the PM did not have it all his own way when he addressed members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). He was confronted by veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott about his heavily-criticised "island of strangers" comment. He was warned that "can't out-Reform Reform."
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rebellion is in the air. Starmer will struggle to calm it
Labour is not enjoying power. When I recently asked a first-time Labour MP if she and colleagues were planning a party to celebrate July's one-year anniversary of their first election, she replied: 'What is there to celebrate?' Getting hammered in the polls by Nigel Farage while being told to vote for welfare cuts isn't what new MPs were dreaming of when they celebrated their landslide win last year. 'This isn't what I came into politics to do' could be the official motto of the welfare rebels. The prospect of more than 100 Labour MPs rebelling over welfare reforms doesn't just matter because of its potential impact on the public finances. It raises questions. Can a gloomy Parliamentary Labour Party stomach the messy business of governing? And Keir Starmer's plan for government in particular? Whereas Conservatives tend to see government as their natural habitat, Labour often finds the experience troubling. When Starmer struck his trade agreement with Donald Trump, the PM's team got more messages of congratulations from Conservatives than from their own side. 'We find the purity of opposition more comfortable than actually doing things,' one Labour MP concedes. Meanwhile the job of being an MP has become even more pressurised. New-intake Labour MPs were chosen by local associations expecting them to be local champions, responsive to every local whim. Slaves to their inboxes, some MPs report getting hundreds of emails a day – and feel obliged to answer them all, for fear of grievances aired on social media. Add in antisocial hours, family dislocation and real fears for personal safety and you have the perfect recipe for discontent. Then there's the fundamental disjunction of this Labour government, between the voters who put it in power and voters some Labour MPs instinctively want to please. To over-simplify, the first group of voters tend to live in towns, not cities and the north not the south. They work and might own their own home but still feel economically insecure. They have previously voted Tory, or not voted at all, and they are now open to voting Reform. They gave Labour a chance in 2024 not because Starmer inspired them, but because they were sick of the other lot and wanted a change. These voters' views explain Starmer's moves to cut aid spending and boost defence, trim welfare bills and talk tough on immigration and crime. Weekend headlines about 'making convicts fill potholes' are laser-guided to this audience. All those things are popular with the electorate as a whole and with Starmer's swing voters in particular. Yet they still meet resistance from Labour MPs challenging No 10's electoral maths. Even as Starmer declares Reform is his party's main opponent, some Cabinet ministers argue that Labour's biggest electoral threat comes from the second group of voters 'progressives' who might defect to the Greens and Lib Dems. Some say this reflects the power of the postbag. 'A lot of our MPs are much more likely to hear from Guardian-reading liberal graduates than from potential Reform voters on estates – that's who the members are, that's who sends emails about Gaza,' says a minister. The persistent Labour belief that the real threat is on the Left is what psychologists call 'motivated reasoning', constructing arguments to suit your beliefs – often to avoid painful, contradictory truths. Here the avoided dissonance is that Labour is a Left-wing party that won power with the votes of people who lean Right. Or at least, Right on social issues such as migration and crime. On the economic issues that are likely to be the biggest test of Labour discipline later this year, things are more complicated. The Treasury last week justifiably celebrated quarterly growth figures that were above expectations. But much of the economic outlook is now decided outside the UK – trade deals and Trump tantrums could determine whether the Autumn Budget sees Rachel Reeves raising yet more money to try to balance the books. Could the parliamentary Labour Party really accept more welfare cuts, as some Government advisers are advocating? Many MPs say absolutely not, and there are already signs that No 10 is preparing to compromise with the rebels – talk of concessions on winter fuel payments and child poverty is a sign that the PM can't just steamroller over scores of unhappy colleagues. All of which increases the chances that the Treasury will have to go looking for more cash later in the year. If so, where? Intriguingly, some senior Labour figures now talk about an 'emerging consensus' between Labour and Reform voters favouring Left-wing economic policies. That's less surprising than it might sound. Farage has shifted Left on economics this year, praising trade unionists, traditional industry and even Jeremy Advisors polling shows that many Reform voters actually lean Left on some economic issues, favouring state protection for key industries and even nationalisation of utility companies. Could Reform's rise move Labour leftwards on economic policy? Here, the financial services sector is on tenterhooks, waiting for whispered cuts in cash ISA allowances and possibly to tax breaks for higher-earners' pension contributions. Some Labour economists also see scope for a populist kick at the Bank of England to pause the 'quantitative tightening' process that pushes up Government borrowing costs. In a similar vein, Reform wants the Bank to charge high street banks interest on overnight reserves, a technical-sounding tweak that would extract billions. Magicking up money by annoying wealthy savers and bankers might just allow the Chancellor to please both Labour MPs and Reform voters at the same time - but Labour can't afford to take the City lightly. Bond investors say the gilt market wants higher taxes or additional cuts at the Autumn Budget. And if they're not reassured? Goldman Sachs last week warned that the gilt market is now 'susceptible to damage' where skittish investors demand higher interest rates on Britain's loans. Ask Liz Truss how that story ends. Labour hasn't taken much joy from its first year in power, but there may be worse to come. The message from the centre of government to unhappy backbenchers will have to get tougher: You won't save your seat by complaining about the government – but you might spook the markets into a crisis that guarantees you lose it. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Reform threat presents us with 'fight of our lives', admits top minister
Reform threat presents us with 'fight of our lives', admits top minister Sir Keir Starmer sent his chief cabinet "fixer" to attempt to calm down jittery Labour MPs in a mutinous mood after last week's elections drubbing by Reform. But instead of calming nerves, cabinet office minister Pat McFadden warned Labour were now facing "the fight of our lives" against Nigel Farage and his party. Politics latest: Farage urged to suspend new councillor Rebel MPs claimed Mr McFadden, who spoke to up to 100 Labour MPs in a Commons committee room for an hour, was acting as a "human shield" for the embattled prime minister. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The showdown came as the fury of Labour MPs over winter fuel payment cuts reached a crescendo, after Sir Keir emphatically rejected demands for a U-turn. The emergency meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, called at just a few hours' notice, was officially billed by the party's high command as a briefing on their "plan for change". But it was also intended to head off a mutiny by Labour MPs after shock victories by Reform UK last week in county council polls, mayoral elections and the Runcorn and Helsby by-election. No sign of a winter fuel U-turn Some Labour MPs were privately critical of Sir Keir for not facing his backbench critics. Others stayed away, claiming the meeting was pointless because the government was not listening to their concerns. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement As a result, many of the party's most high-profile rebels on winter fuel payments, benefit cuts and other issues were absent. Veteran left-winger Diane Abbot attended but left before the end, refusing to talk to journalists. Many of those attending were younger MPs elected last July and so the mood was not as acrimonious as the leadership might have feared. Mr McFadden was applauded at the end of the meeting. Speaking with Treasury ministers Darren Jones and James Murray alongside him but no Rachel Reeves, who was visiting Scotland, Mr McFadden gave no hint of concessions on controversial policies. Read more: How Farage is flirting with Labour's loyal voters The choice facing Labour in face of Reform threat 'Battle for the future' Instead, he launched an attack on Mr Farage's Reform, which senior cabinet ministers acknowledge is now a real threat to Labour and may become the party's main rivals. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to a government source present at the meeting, Mr McFadden began his speech by saying: "The big point I want to make to you is that a new fight is taking shape. "It's a fight between our values and a nationalist politics of the right. It's a battle for the very future and the heart and soul of our country." Mr McFadden was said to have criticised Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the new mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, who in her victory speech vowed Reform would "reset Britain to its glorious past". 'We have to win' "That is not our project, and it won't be our project," Mr McFadden said, as he said Labour was focused on the country's "glorious future". ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He added: "Labour is always at its best when we look to the future. This is the fight of our lives, this is the generational fight in this new political era. "I want to tell you we have to take on this new fight for the future - and we have to win." Mr McFadden addressed Labour MPs after Sir Keir dismayed many Labour MPs in a clash with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at PMQs by refusing to admit he was wrong to remove winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners.
South Wales Argus
22-04-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
MP visits factory which employs more than 450 people
EnerSys, a leader in stored energy solutions, played host to Jessica Morden, MP for Newport East and chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party, to its Newport factory last week. The visit highlighted the importance of UK battery manufacturers in supporting national resilience, innovation, and export growth. Ms Morden was welcomed by senior members of the EnerSys leadership team to discuss engineering innovation, the future of battery manufacturing in the UK, and the Newport plant's valuable contribution to the local and national economy. During her visit, she met with local engineers, technicians, and apprentices working at the forefront of battery innovation. She was given a guided tour of the factory and was invited to observe the production process first-hand, where she was introduced to EnerSys' pioneering Thin Plate Pure Lead (TPPL) and lithium-ion battery technologies. These advanced solutions are designed to meet the evolving demands of key sectors including defence, telecommunications, transportation, and clean energy storage. As one of the region's major employers, EnerSys employs 450 people at its Newport plant. The facility has the capacity to produce one million battery blocks per year and exports the majority of its production globally – underscoring its strategic significance in the international energy storage supply chain. EnerSys batteries are engineered to deliver superior performance and are trusted in applications ranging from data centres and telecommunications infrastructure to transportation networks and both commercial and military aircraft and vehicles worldwide. Ms Morden said: "I was delighted to visit EnerSys in Newport and see first-hand the strength of our local advanced manufacturing base. "Facilities like this show why investing in sovereign capability matters, not just for our economy, but for our national infrastructure and future growth." Tim Gibbons, plant manager at EnerSys Newport, said: "It was a real honour to welcome Jessica Morden to our Newport facility. "We're incredibly grateful she took the time to visit and experience our production operations first-hand. "EnerSys is proud to be at the forefront of engineering innovation, and it was a pleasure to showcase our manufacturing capabilities and share our vision for the future." The EnerSys plant, located on Stephenson Street, was originally built in the 1950s as a motor works and has been producing batteries since 1961. The 30,000 sqm facility now plays a key role in supplying energy storage solutions to critical industries worldwide. This visit forms part of a broader campaign to highlight the engineering expertise and advanced manufacturing capabilities of EnerSys. With UK operations in Newport, Culham, and Manchester, the global manufacturer is a leading supplier of specialised batteries used across defence, transportation, telecommunications, and infrastructure sectors.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Reeves is gaslighting the public with her £50bn fiddle
Last week, the Chancellor tried to use the Spring Statement to burnish her more hawkish credentials and reassure the public and the markets that she was in control of the public finances. She told the House of Commons that she would 'never take risks with the public finances and would never do anything to put household finances in danger'. If meeting the 'non-negotiable' fiscal rules required £15bn of welfare and spending cuts, then so be it. In the Chancellor's mind, the anger within her own party caused by these cuts – in particular to cuts in disability and health related benefits – are just a political problem to be handled in order to achieve the bigger strategic prize of restoring order to the public finances. She justified such an approach in the face of an increasingly outraged Parliamentary Labour Party by arguing: 'The responsible choice is to reduce our levels of debt and borrowing in the years ahead, so that we can spend more on the priorities of working people, and that is exactly what this Government will do.' The big problem with this statement is that it isn't true. The Spring Statement increased debt and borrowing compared to the plans published in the Budget last year. Reducing debt and borrowing from those incredibly high levels is exactly what the Government should be doing to guard against the changing world we keep hearing so much about. Yet it is precisely the opposite of what they are doing. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) could not be clearer when they say 'borrowing is projected to be £3.5bn higher and debt 0.6pc of GDP higher at the end of the decade than in our October forecast'. You read that right, higher. In fact, borrowing is going up by nearly £50bn over the next five years. I am not sure how to describe a political and economic strategy that leaves your own side attacking you for not increasing borrowing when, in fact, you have done just that to the tune of £50bn. But this sort of thing happens when you repeatedly say one thing and in fact are doing something completely different. And the Spring Statement was full of such sophistry. As mentioned above, the Chancellor pledged to restore stability to the public finances yet within five months of massively increasing spending had to announce it wouldn't be going up by quite so much. She claimed that 'this statement does not contain any further tax increases' despite it containing £200m of council tax rises and £500m of visa charge increases. She promised to work with the Bank of England to reduce inflation shortly before announcing that it was in fact now forecast to be 0.6 percentage points higher this year than previously thought. And she heralded cuts to interest rates when the OBR assumes they will now be 0.25 percentage points higher than in October. Time and time again the Chancellor said one thing but the data said something else. To tell so many half-truths in one half-an-hour speech, the worst of which was the claim to be cutting debt and borrowing when you had just increased both, is not just potentially misleading the House of Commons, it is gaslighting the British people. Readers may well think that is simply what politicians do. But I think this goes to the heart of the debate that is now raging with regards to the Government's economic agenda. Since the Spring Statement, everyone has been picking over the details of the cuts or arguing about the OBR and the fiscal rules. And that's understandable because of the way the Chancellor framed the event. She positioned herself as a fiscal hawk determined to press ahead with spending cuts in order to 'restore stability'. But this is missing the bigger picture. This Government has overseen a massive increase in the size of the state. It has increased, and is increasing, public spending, to unsustainable levels. In order to do so it has taxed the growth generating private sector into the ground and ramped up borrowing which has caused inflation and interest rates to stay higher for longer – punishing households and businesses alike. The fiscal rules are just the means chosen by the Chancellor to enable this agenda. The OBR merely the judge as to how she is doing against these rules. And a small-scale slowing down of the rise in welfare spending, a drop in the fiscal ocean. It is the overall levels of tax, spending and borrowing that ought to be the real target of Labour MPs' and everyone else's anger. Because we are paying the price for the Government's gamble that increasing spending would drive growth but not inflation. And this gamble has failed. The Government overreached itself in the autumn Budget. And regrettably shows no signs of changing course. And to make matters worse it looks like they are going to continue to pretend that up is down, and down is up. Adam Smith is former chief of staff to Jeremy Hunt Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
