Ed Miliband Calls on the Labour Party to Focus Forward After Keir Starmer Offers Apology to Streeting for Hostile Media Leaks
High-ranking Labour Party official Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has called for the party to leave behind internal tensions after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer directly apologised to Health Secretary Wes Streeting MP over hostile briefings linked to Downing Street.
Key Events
- Ed Miliband states the Prime Minister will fire the No 10 source behind for briefing against Wes Streeting if found
- The Energy Secretary rules out any party leader aspirations, declaring his previous time as leader was the "most effective inoculation" against desiring the position again
- British economy grew by just 0.1% in the July-September period, impacted by the JLR cyber-attack
Background
The internal unrest started after allegations emerged about critical briefings from the Prime Minister's team targeting the Health Secretary. Despite early attempts to minimize the matter, the conversation between Starmer and the health minister according to sources followed a more serious direction.
Starmer said sorry to Wes Streeting, the media have been told. The discussion was short, and they did not talk about Morgan McSweeney, whom Starmer is now under increasing scrutiny to sack.
Miliband's Reaction
In his morning media interviews, Miliband emphasized the need for the party to direct attention on national priorities rather than internal conflicts.
Clearly, I think the media briefing has been bad, no question.
But my advice to the party today is clear, which is we need to focus on the public, not ourselves.
We were given a historic election win last July, a major opportunity to transform our country. And we have a historic duty.
Growth Update
Meanwhile, government statistics showed the UK economic performance expanded by just 0.1% in the third quarter, with the manufacturing industry particularly hit by the recently reported Jaguar Land Rover security incident.
The Day's Agenda
- Morning: NHS England publishes its latest statistics
- Today: Wes Streeting visits the Liverpool area
- Today: The Chancellor makes comments to the media
- Late morning: Number 10 conducts its daily media briefing
- Morning: The Prime Minister announces government plans for the Britain's first nuclear power facility at Wylfa site on the island of Anglesey
