Energy Secretary Ed Miliband Urges Labour to Focus Forward After Starmer Offers Apology to Wes Streeting for Negative Briefings
High-ranking Labour Party official Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has demanded the party to move beyond internal disputes after leader Keir Starmer directly apologised to Health Secretary Wes Streeting over negative leaked comments linked to Downing Street.
Major Updates
- Miliband states the Prime Minister will sack the Downing Street official responsible for targeting Streeting if found
- The Energy Secretary rejects any leadership ambitions, stating his past time as leader was the "most effective vaccine" against desiring the position again
- UK economy increased by just 0.1% in the July-September period, hit by the JLR cyber-attack
Background
The political controversy erupted after media stories surfaced about critical briefings from Starmer's supporters targeting the Health Secretary. Although early attempts to downplay the matter, the discussion between Starmer and the health minister reportedly followed a different direction.
The Prime Minister said sorry to Streeting, the media have been informed. The discussion was short, and they did not talk about Morgan McSweeney, whom Starmer is now under growing pressure to remove.
Miliband's Response
In his morning media appearances, Ed Miliband emphasized the need for the Labour Party to focus on country-wide issues rather than party conflicts.
Look, I think the backgrounding has been bad, certainly.
But my advice to the party now is straightforward, which is we need to concentrate on the nation, not each other.
We were given a historic victory last summer, a historic chance to improve our country. And we have a major responsibility.
Economic Update
In other news, official statistics showed the British economy grew by just 0.1% in the July-September period, with the production sector particularly impacted by the recent Jaguar Land Rover hack.
Today's Agenda
- Morning: The National Health Service releases its monthly statistics
- Morning: The Health Secretary visits Liverpool
- Today: Rachel Reeves makes comments to the press
- Late morning: Downing Street holds its regular lobby briefing
- Today: Keir Starmer highlights government plans for the UK's pioneering small modular reactor project at Wylfa on Anglesey
