No 10 brushes off claims Streeting’s criticism of ‘technocratic approach’ refers to Starmer – UK politics live | Politics
Trump’s strategy plan contains echoes of ‘extreme rightwing tropes’ from 1930s, former cabinet minister tells MPs
The Trump security strategy paper contains language reminiscent of 1930s Germany, MPs were told.
Liam Byrne, a former Labour cabinet minister and the chair of the Commons business committee, made the suggestion as he said the shift in US policy meant it was even more important for the UK to strengthen economic security links with the EU.
Speaking during the urgent question, he said:
The language of the US national security strategy was deeply regrettable and, frankly, it was not hard to see the rhymes with some extreme rightwing tropes that date back to the 1930s.
Byrne said the publication of the document coincided with talks on the UK joining the EU’s Safe (Security Action for Europe) defence loans programme broke down. He said the government should adopt the recommendations in his committee’s report on economic security, and he said the UK should open talks with the EU on the sort of economic security union that could provide Europe with the growth “that rearmament is going to require”.
Byrne was clearly referring to 1930s Germany in his opening comment, and to Nazi thinking about racial purity. There are echoes of this in the new US national security strategy where it talks about Europe facing “civilisational erasure” in part because of migration. It says:
Economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure. The larger issues facing Europe include activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence.
Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less …
Over the long term, it is more than plausible that within a few decades at the latest, certain Nato members will become majority non-European.
In response, Malhotra said she agreed with Byrne that it was important for the UK to further develop its own defence capabilities.
Key events
Streeting blames McSweeney’s target seat focus in 2024 campaign for fact he almost lost in Ilford North
In his New Statesman interview (see 1.28pm), Wes Streeting, the health secretary, also blamed Morgan McSweeney, who is now Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, for the fact that he came close to losing his seat at the last election.
Streeting represents Ilford North, a marginal seat in north-east London. In 2019 he had a majority of more than 5,000, but last year his majority was slashed to 528 and he was almost beaten by Leanne Mohamad, one of the many independent candidates who did very well in constituencies with significant numbers of Muslim voters by campaigning primarily on the issue of Gaza.
McSweeney was running Labour’s election campaign and he told MPs seeking re-election that they should be campaigning in target seats, not spending time in their own constituencies. Streeting told the New Statesman that he wanted to ignore this rule, but that he received “a proper bollocking from one of the leaders of our general election campaign” who told him he had to campaign elsewhere.
Streeting said:
[My] mistake was listening to the national machine when I should have followed my own gut instinct. I will not make that mistake again.
Streeting and McSweeney clashed again more recently, after McSweeney was implicated in Downing Street briefings implying Streeting was plotting against Starmer.
If you are interested in Mohamad, she is one of several figures involved in Jeremy Corbyn’s new Your Party interviewed for a book about it, Your Party: The Return of the Left, edited by Oliver Eagleton. The book covers the splits in the party, but it goes well beyond that and interviews are revealing about the ideas motivating the party’s founders. Mohamad said she almost won in Ilford North because people were fed up with two-party politics. She said:
The message I heard constantly was that the two-party system was not delivering. There was a very deep, very disturbing sense of betrayal: a frustration with flip-flopping between the same groups of self-serving politicians, neither of which has done anything to improve people’s lives. That is why so many people were willing to turn to an independent alternative.
The book says, if there were an election in the constituency now, Mohamad would be projected to win with a majority of almost 4,000.
Downing Street vows to force employment rights bill through Lords
The government has vowed that there will be no more concessions on the employment rights bill and that it will force the Lords to vote on it again next week, after Conservative and cross-bench peers blocked it on Wednesday night, Jessica Elgot reports.
Keir Starmer has said that reliable bus services “shouldn’t cost the earth” in remarks released ahead of a visit today to promote government spending on buses.
The PM went to Norwich to publicise investment in bus services, including to extend the £3 bus fare cap in England until 2027. He said:
Buses are crucial to our communities – for many it’s how we commute to work, take the kids to school or even help us get home safely after a Christmas tipple.
Reliable bus travel shouldn’t cost the earth – and without it, the threads that hold urban and rural communities together around Norfolk would unravel.
The government is spending £3bn on buses, including £46m allocated for Norfolk.
No 10 dismisses claim that Streeting’s jibe about ‘technocratic approach’ to governing is implied criticism of Starmer
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has said that Labour’s decision to adopt a “practical, technocratic approach” to governing is causing a problem.
In an interview with the New Statesman, he suggested that this is one reason why the party is doing so badly in the polls, and he admitted that he was “frustrated” about this.
His comments will be seen as implied criticism of Keir Starmer and a clear indication of the pitch he would make in a future leadership contest. Many Labour MPs believe that Starmer will be replaced before the next election, and Streeting is one of the leading candidates to replace him.
In an interview with Ailbhe Rea, the magazine’s political editor, Streeting said that he was not happy with the way the government is performing. He said:
I’m pretty frustrated, to be honest. I feel like on one hand, since we’ve come into government, we’ve actually done a huge amount that we said we’d do … But that’s not reflected in the polls, and I don’t think it’s even reflected in our storytelling. I think we sell ourselves short.
Streeting said that one problem was that Labour was presenting itself as the “maintenance department for the country”. He explained:
The problem with that kind of practical, technocratic approach is that if someone else comes along and says, ‘Well, I’ve got a maintenance company too, and mine’s cheaper,’ why wouldn’t people go, ‘OK, well, we’ll give that maintenance team a try’?
Streeting said that he thought Labour needed to put more emphasis on values, and not just policy implementation. On health, he claimed that what mattered at the next election would not be “who’s going to be more effective at cutting the waiting lists”, but instead “who believes in a National Health Service and its fundamental values”.
He said Labour should be “a party of both the left and the centre”. And he said beating Reform UK would have to involve highlighting Labour values. He explained:
We’re certainly not going to win by out-reforming Reform. And we will certainly not be true to our values and our soul if we try and out-reform Reform.
We can take them on and beat them with values-driven Labour arguments. We can reunite the centre and the left, and I think that is the historic responsibility that we have.
It will be Labour or Reform, and that is a battle not just between left and right, but between right and wrong, between progressives and reactionaries, and between hope or hate. We cannot let them win.
Asked about the interview at the Downing Street lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson rejected suggestions that Streeting’s comments highlighted a division over strategy within government. He said:
I think what the health secretary is setting out is that the public voted for change. That’s what they want to see delivered, and again, that is exactly what the government is focused on doing. The government is united behind a manifesto of change.
In the New Statesman, Rea ended her article with a lovely line about Streeting’s ambitions. She writes;
Is 2026 the year he becomes prime minister? Streeting laughs. Then there is a long pause. “I’m definitely not indulging any of that. I think we had quite enough of that with the drive-by the other week. The level of silliness we saw [then] was like panto season come early. So I think the answer to your question is: oh no, he’s not.” Streeting knows his panto, though. And he knows what the audience shouts back.
N0 10 says government remains committed to further Lords reform
The appointment of 34 new political peers last night has led to claims that the government is stalling on its commitment to proper Lords reform. (See 10.36am.)
But, at the No 10 lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson rejected this claim. He said the bill to remove the remaining hereditary peers from the Lords, which is due to become law before the end of this parliamentary session, was “the first step in reform of the second chamber”. He said the government remains committed to replacing the current Lords with “an alternative second chamber that is more representative of the nations and regions”.
Downing Street has said the government remains committed to passing the employment rights bill before Christmas – but it has not ruled out further concessions to get the legislation through the Lords.
Asked specifically if further compromise was likely after the surprise defeat last night (see 8.42am), the PM’s spokesperson told reporters at the lobby briefing:
We have always said since the outset we would always work with all parties, trade unions, businesses … in order to deliver the employment rights bill.
But the spokesperson did defend the government’s decision to change the bill at the last minute to remove the cap on the compensation that can be paid to someone who wins a claim for unfair dismissal. It was this change that triggered the Lords defeat last night.
The spokesperson said:
On this compensation specifically, these changes ensure employees who have been unfairly dismissed are properly compensated for their losses, remove incentives for unnecessarily complex claims, and make it quicker and easier for tribunals to deliver fair outcomes. Independent tribunals will still decide compensation awards based on the facts and in reality most awards fall far below the existing cap of around £118,000.
We remain committed to passing this bill before Christmas and will work with the unions businesses and legislators to get this done in line with our implementation road map.
UPDATE: In private, government sources are saying there will be no further concessions. See 2.05pm.
Starmer urges resident doctors in England to ‘do the responsible thing’ and call off planned strike
Keir Starmer has also urged resident doctors to “do the responsible thing” and call off their planned strike in England.
Referring to the BMA’s decision to consult doctors on the latest offer from government ahead of the proposed five-day strike due to start on Wednesday next week, Starmer said:
I’m very concerned with the action of the BMA. They are being irresponsible in my view. We have already put in place quite a significant pay rise.
There are other issues that they’re concerned about, which we’ve been listening to, and we put an offer on the table to deal with those issues, but that offer can only go forward if they don’t take strike action, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, particularly when we’ve got a problem with flu.
It’d be irresponsible with BMA to push through, and I think for many resident doctors, I think in their heart of hearts, they probably don’t want to do this.
So I’d just say to the BMA, do the responsible thing, accept the offer that’s on the table, and we can all move forward.
Starmer says people should apply ‘common sense’ about flu risk, but guidance on face masks not being changed
Keir Starmer has said that the government is not issuing new guidance on face masks in the light of the flu threat this winter, but that he does expect people to use common sense.
Asked if the government would be advising people to wear face masks, Starmer told broadcasters while he was on a visit in Norfolk:
As far as the flu is concerned, there’s a winter plan in place, and I had a briefing on that the day before last in terms of the robustness of the plan.
I want to thank all the NHS staff who always step up during the winter period to deal with flu or whatever else. We do need to take precautions.
There’s no difference in the guidance, so we’re not changing guidance on face masks.
But the usual things about ventilation, washing hands and just being careful when you’re around people who are vulnerable is the guidance. It’s common sense, and I think most people would want to behave in that way.
Some health leaders have said that, if people are likely to be coughing or sneezing in public, they should wear a face mask. That prompted Kemi Badenoch to say that she did not like telling people to wear face masks, because they can “a barrier to social interaction”, but that she did think people should exercise common sense and that, if they were ill, they should stay in bed.
As Tobi Thomas reports, the number of people in hospital in England with flu has risen by 55% in a week.
I have updated the post at 11.03am with the full, direct quote from Matt Western about the US national security strategy. You may need to refresh the page to get the update to appear.
Trump’s strategy plan contains echoes of ‘extreme rightwing tropes’ from 1930s, former cabinet minister tells MPs
The Trump security strategy paper contains language reminiscent of 1930s Germany, MPs were told.
Liam Byrne, a former Labour cabinet minister and the chair of the Commons business committee, made the suggestion as he said the shift in US policy meant it was even more important for the UK to strengthen economic security links with the EU.
Speaking during the urgent question, he said:
The language of the US national security strategy was deeply regrettable and, frankly, it was not hard to see the rhymes with some extreme rightwing tropes that date back to the 1930s.
Byrne said the publication of the document coincided with talks on the UK joining the EU’s Safe (Security Action for Europe) defence loans programme broke down. He said the government should adopt the recommendations in his committee’s report on economic security, and he said the UK should open talks with the EU on the sort of economic security union that could provide Europe with the growth “that rearmament is going to require”.
Byrne was clearly referring to 1930s Germany in his opening comment, and to Nazi thinking about racial purity. There are echoes of this in the new US national security strategy where it talks about Europe facing “civilisational erasure” in part because of migration. It says:
Economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure. The larger issues facing Europe include activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence.
Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less …
Over the long term, it is more than plausible that within a few decades at the latest, certain Nato members will become majority non-European.
In response, Malhotra said she agreed with Byrne that it was important for the UK to further develop its own defence capabilities.
Lib Dems call for review of UK’s security strategy in light of Trump’s foreign policy shift
Calum Miller, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson, said that President Trump has driven a “coach and horses” through the alliance with Europe with this document.
He called for an urgent review of the government’s strategy in response to this.
And he asked the minister to state clearly that the UK will not tolerate American interference in elections.
And he asked if the elections bill will deal with the threat of foreign interference.
Malhotra said national security was the priority for the government. She said it was important to recognise that Trump is making efforts to promote peace around the world.
Chi Onwurah (Lab) told Malhotra that she thought she was too discreet to say what she really thought about Trump. But she asked if the government accepted that any defence capability reliant on the US would not be a sovereign capability.
Malhotra said that the UK respected the US as a democracy, and that friends and allies should respect each other’s choices.
Speaking for the Conservatives, Mike Wood, a shadow Cabinet Office minister, did not say anything directly critical of the Trump document. Instead, he asked for confirmation that the government will raise defence spending, and sought an update on Ukraine policy.
Trump’s threat to interfere in European elections in new US security strategy ‘chilling’, MPs told
Matt Western, the Labour chair of the joint committee on national security strategy, told MPs that the Trump document showed that the US consensus that has led the world since the second world war has been “shattered”.
And he said the implication that the US will interfer in European elections is “chilling”.
He criticised Trump for his comments about Sadiq Khan in a recent interview.
And he said he was worried there was no criticism of Russia in the Trump document.
He said he did not expect the government to criticise Trump.
But he wanted to know if the government’s national security strategy is being updated in the light of this document.
Malhotra said it was for the US to set its strategy.
She said there were elements of the strategy that the UK agrees with, such as the importance of Europe providing for its own defence. But there are some aspects of it the government disagrees with, she said.
Referring to Khan, she said he was doing a great job for London – and she disagreed with what Trump said.
UPDATE: Western said:
The whole house should be under no illusion, the United States consensus that has led the western world since the second world war appears shattered.
It refers to Europe facing, and I quote, ‘civilisational erasure’, and it will be unrecognisable in 20 years. It vows to, and I quote again, ‘to help Europe correct its current trajectory and promote patriotic European parties’.
The prospect of United States interference in the democratic politics of Europe, I believe, is chilling.
The president’s comments on Tuesday further demonstrate this, he called European leaders weak and singled out one of the United Kingdom’s mayors as, I quote, ‘horrible, vicious and disgusting’.
But sometimes what is not said is as important as is what is said. In this case, the absence of condemnation for Russia is extraordinary, though not surprising.
Given certain UK dependencies on the United States, this leaves the United Kingdom especially vulnerable.
