Energy Secretary Ed Miliband Urges Labour to Focus Forward Following Starmer Offers Apology to Wes Streeting for Hostile Briefings
High-ranking Labour Party figure Ed Miliband has urged the party to put aside internal disputes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer directly expressed regret to Health Secretary Wes Streeting over negative media stories originating from Number 10.
Key Events
- Miliband confirms Starmer will fire the No 10 official responsible for briefing against Wes Streeting if identified
- Miliband rules out future leadership aspirations, stating his previous time as leader was the "most effective inoculation" against wanting the role again
- UK economic growth increased by just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, impacted by the JLR cyber-attack
Context
The internal controversy erupted after media stories surfaced about critical background comments from the Prime Minister's team targeting Streeting. Despite early attempts to dismiss the situation, the conversation between Starmer and Streeting reportedly took a different turn.
The Prime Minister expressed regret to Streeting, the media have been told. The discussion was brief, and they did not talk about the chief of staff, whom Starmer is now under pressure to sack.
Miliband's Statement
In his morning media appearances, Ed Miliband highlighted the need for the Labour Party to concentrate on country-wide issues rather than internal disputes.
Look, I think the media briefing has been damaging, without doubt.
But my advice to the Labour party now is quite simple, which is we need to concentrate on the nation, not ourselves.
We were given a historic election win last July, a historic chance to change our country. And we have a major responsibility.
Economic Update
In other news, official data revealed the British economic performance increased by just 0.1% in the July-September period, with the industrial sector especially hit by the recently reported JLR security incident.
Today's Schedule
- 9.30am: NHS England releases its latest data
- Morning: The Health Secretary visits Liverpool
- Morning: The Chancellor speaks to the media
- Late morning: Number 10 holds its daily media briefing
- Today: Keir Starmer promotes government plans for the UK's first small modular reactor facility at Wylfa on the island of Anglesey
