Energy Secretary Ed Miliband Calls on Labour to Focus Forward After Starmer Apologises to Wes Streeting for Negative Briefings
Senior Labour figure Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has demanded the party to move beyond party disputes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer directly expressed regret to health minister Wes Streeting over hostile media stories originating from the Prime Minister's office.
Key Developments
- Miliband states Starmer will dismiss the Downing Street official behind for attacking Streeting if found
- The Energy Secretary rules out future leadership aspirations, declaring his past time as Labour leader was the "most effective vaccine" against seeking the position again
- UK economy expanded by just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, hit by the JLR hack
Situation
The political unrest erupted after media stories emerged about negative briefings from the Prime Minister's team targeting the Health Secretary. Although early efforts to downplay the incident, the talk between Starmer and the health minister reportedly followed a more serious direction.
The Prime Minister said sorry to Streeting, reporters have been advised. The discussion was concise, and they did not discuss the chief of staff, whom the PM is now under growing pressure to dismiss.
Miliband's Response
In his early morning media interviews, Ed Miliband stressed the need for the party to focus on country-wide matters rather than internal conflicts.
Clearly, I think the backgrounding has been bad, no question.
But my message to the party today is quite simple, which is we need to concentrate on the country, not ourselves.
We were given a significant mandate last summer, a major opportunity to improve our nation. And we have a major duty.
Growth Update
In other news, government statistics indicated the British economic performance grew by just 0.1 percent in the July-September period, with the production industry especially impacted by the recently reported Jaguar Land Rover security incident.
The Day's Schedule
- 9.30am: NHS England publishes its latest statistics
- Morning: Wes Streeting visits the Liverpool area
- Morning: The Chancellor speaks to the media
- Late morning: Number 10 conducts its regular media briefing
- Today: The Prime Minister highlights plans for the UK's first nuclear power plant at Wylfa site on Anglesey
