Energy Secretary Ed Miliband Encourages Labour to Focus Forward Following Starmer Says Sorry to Wes Streeting for Negative Briefings
Senior Labour Party figure Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has demanded the party to move beyond party tensions after leader Sir Keir Starmer directly said sorry to health minister Wes Streeting MP over negative briefings originating from Downing Street.
Major Events
- Ed Miliband declares the Prime Minister will dismiss the No 10 source responsible for attacking Streeting if found
- Miliband rules out any party leader aspirations, saying his past experience as leader was the "best vaccine" against seeking the role again
- British economy grew by just 0.1% in the third quarter, impacted by the Jaguar Land Rover security breach
Situation
The political unrest started after allegations emerged about negative briefings from the Prime Minister's team targeting Streeting. Despite early efforts to downplay the incident, the discussion between Starmer and the health minister reportedly took a more serious direction.
The Prime Minister apologised to Streeting, reporters have been advised. The discussion was short, and they did not discuss the chief of staff, whom Starmer is now under growing pressure to remove.
The Energy Secretary's Response
In his early morning broadcast appearances, Ed Miliband highlighted the need for the party to focus on country-wide issues rather than party conflicts.
Look, I think the media briefing has been damaging, no question.
But my call to the Labour members now is quite simple, which is we need to focus on the public, not each other.
We were given a historic election win last July, a important opportunity to transform our nation. And we have a major obligation.
Growth Update
In other news, official statistics indicated the British economic performance increased by just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, with the industrial industry particularly impacted by the recent JLR cyber-attack.
Today's Schedule
- 9.30am: The National Health Service publishes its latest statistics
- Morning: Wes Streeting visits the Liverpool area
- Today: The Chancellor makes comments to the media
- 11.30am: Number 10 conducts its regular lobby briefing
- Today: The Prime Minister highlights plans for the Britain's pioneering nuclear power facility at Wylfa site on Anglesey