Former health secretary described as ‘hysterical’ about the issue by Peter Mandelson in messages disclosed this weekUK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting has said he felt he was “hitting up against a brick wall” when he tried to raise concerns about Gaza in government, after private messages from Peter Mandelson were disclosed where he was accused of being “hysterical” about the issue.Among a huge release of documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US, WhatsApp messages showed Mandelson being highly critical of Streeting to Pat McFadden, another cabinet minister. Continue reading...
Labour should also drill for oil and gas in North Sea, says former health secretary and leadership candidateWes Streeting has called for national insurance tax cuts for businesses, and for the government to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea.The former health secretary and Labour leadership candidate told the Sunday Times there should be a “targeted reduction” of employers’ national insurance contribution as a way to “actively incentivise” hiring, particularly of young people. Continue reading...
Former health secretary says he unsuccessfully argued for tougher action when in cabinetGood morning. The government has been consulting on whether to follow Australia and impose a ban on social media for under-16s, or whether to opt for other restrictions, and the consultation ends at 11.59pm tonight. Keir Starmer is expected to announce the government’s response soon afterwards. He has already said that there will be action of some sort. Last year ministers were sceptical about following the Australian example, but this is an issue where opinion – both in government, and in society more broadly – has been shifting very quickly.This morning Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who is running what is in effect a leadership campaign, has intervened. As the Guardian reports, he has said that a social media ban for under-16s “must be the start, not the end” and he has compared the sector to the tobacco industry.Streeting restated his claim that social media is like the tobacco industry and suggested that, just as tobacco bosses did in the mid-20th century, social media executives have been suppressing evidence about the full extent of the harm caused by their products. He said:What we’ve seen from Big Tech is behaviour akin to Big Tobacco … We know from whistleblowers that in the tech industry, among those who are responsible for designing technology, including social media platforms, that are changing every aspect of our lives, they know that the product they’re designing is addictive, they know that it is harmful, and the business model is orientated towards getting kids while they’re young, addicting them with the design features that are designed for addiction, to grab your attention and keep you on their platform for as long as possible.He said there was a “growing body of evidence” about the ways in which social media is harmful.And then we see the consequences beginning to emerge through the growing body of evidence about the impact of this technology on childhood, whether that is sleep, concentration, learning, health, wellbeing, including mental health.The harms are evident.He claimed governmments around the world had been “asleep at the wheel” on this issue. “Frankly, legislators, regulators, have been asleep at the wheel on this,” he said.He suggested that Keir Starmer had been “behind the curve” on this issue. While he was not overly criticial of the PM on this issue, suggesting that governments around the world have been slow to confront social media companies on this issue, he made it clear that he thought the Starmer government could have acted more quickly. He said that he was speaking out now because he was “liberated from the obligations of collective responsibility”. He said the arguments he was making in public today were the ones he was making privately in government, “in a number of cabinet committees and meetings”, and that he “pushed as hard as I could”. He said the government was now moving to a “better position”, but he suggested Starmer could have acted more quickly.To be fair to Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, she came into office [in September last year], she’s gripped this, she’s chosen to run a rapid consultation with the principle of how to implement restrictions, rather than whether. That’s all positive. And I trust Liz Kendall to act quickly following the closure of the consultation today.And we must, because, as I say, we’re behind the curve. Continue reading...
Former health secretary’s intervention comes as government closes consultation on age limits for social media platformsSocial media companies should be treated like the tobacco industry, Wes Streeting has argued, as he called for a ban on under-16s accessing certain platforms.Speaking publicly about the prospect of a ban for the first time since he left government, the former health secretary said one was needed because large technology companies were trying to dodge regulations. Continue reading...
Can Andy Burnham do a better job than Keir Starmer? Is Makerfield more important for Reform than Labour? Can the UK rejoin the EU? Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey answer your messages and emails Continue reading...
In interview with Guardian, former health secretary sets out plans for government, including social care, tax and refugeesWes Streeting has insisted he can win over the Labour left, as he launches a shadow campaign for the party leadership, saying he has “beaten the odds” throughout his life and can do so again.The former health secretary, who called on Keir Starmer to resign as he quit the cabinet last week, warned Labour MPs that drifting on with Starmer in charge risked a Joe Biden situation that would usher in a Reform government. Continue reading...
MP says current system is unfair and his idea would result in a ‘wealth tax that works’UK politics live – latest updatesFormer health secretary Wes Streeting has set out plans for a “wealth tax that works”, by equalising tax on assets and income.Streeting said the current system – in which capital gains tax is generally much lower than income tax – was not fair and penalised work, arguing the taxes should be equalised. Continue reading...
Treasury’s Lucy Rigby says Rachel Reeves introduced measures in her first budget as Streeting calls for capital gains rates to be aligned with income taxGood morning. It’s a big day for Rachel Reeves, the chancellor. In a Commons statement, she is announcing a series of measures to help people with the cost of living. She wants people to enjoy a “Great British summer”, she says. Reeves’s plan for what makes for a good summer is not quite the same as Samantha Niblett’s; the chancellor is talking about free bus travel for children, as Heather Stewart, Peter Walker and Sarah Butler report in their preview.Reeves is speaking after 11.30am.We already tax wealth in this country. The chancellor introduced a host of measures in her first budget, and then further measures in the last budget as well, that try and make sure that tax is as progressive and fair as possible. Continue reading...
In first speech since quitting cabinet, Streeting says party must deliver change or it will hand keys of No 10 to ReformUK politics live – latest updatesLabour must be bolder and deliver real change, Wes Streeting has said in his first Commons speech since resigning as health secretary, saying that he quit the government because it was “currently losing” the fight against populist nationalism.Streeting reiterated his view that leaving the EU had been a damaging mistake for the UK, and argued that young people had been let down by a system stacked against them. Continue reading...
The former health secretary will give resignation speech after prime minister’s questions Good morning. PMQs is back, and there are at least two obvious issues for Kemi Badenoch to raise when she faces Keir Starmer.What Tories calls Starmer’s “Soviet-style” plan to curb supermarket pricesThis is more nuts than a squirrel convention!I warned Rachel Reeves prices would go up if she raised taxes and drowned employers in red tape. She didn’t listen and now she’s proposing Soviet style measures!After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.We are talking about our allies in Ukraine who have been fighting a war bravely against Russia for years and years with our support.They have looked to Britain as one of their most important allies, and they don’t understand, given that we promised that we would stop this loophole in October, and we still haven’t done it. In fact, it seems to have got worse. People feel very let down.There was a G7 announcement on the 19 May which said that they, the G7, had an unwavering commitment to put pressure on Russia including sanctions on the energy sector and actions against entities in third countries that materially support Russia’s war effort but we’re still saying that we’re going to take sanctioned oil but so long as it goes to Turkey first and then it’s refined, we will use it. Continue reading...
Deputy PM says the public will not forgive weeks of internal debate on the EU and Labour leadership, warning it will play into Reform’s handsGood morning. Harold Wilson was right; a week is a long time etc etc. Seven days ago, the biggest threat to Keir Starmer was a half-baked challenge from Catherine West. A week on, with Andy Burnham on a viable path back to Westminster within the next few weeks, it now seems more likely than not that Burnham will be prime minister by the autumn, perhaps earlier, and that Keir Starmer will be out.We are likely to hear from Starmer himself this morning. In the meantime, David Lammy, the deputy PM, has been doing a broadcast round. As Peter Walker reports, Lammy has insisted that Starmer is not about to set out a timetable for his departure. Continue reading...
Lisa Nandy told the BBC she did not understand ‘sudden focus on Europe’ from Labour leadership hopefulUK politics live – latest updatesThe UK culture secretary has dismissed calls for Britain to re-enter the European Union as “odd”, a day after her former cabinet colleague Wes Streeting said the country’s future lies back in the bloc.Lisa Nandy criticised the former health secretary on Sunday, saying his comments over the weekend risked reopening a debate that was settled with the Brexit referendum 10 years ago. Continue reading...
Ex-health secretary, who is expected to launch leadership bid soon, condemns ‘heavy-handed’ approachWes Streeting has launched a scathing attack on what he described as Keir Starmer’s “heavy-handed” leadership culture, which he claimed had stifled creative policy thinking in government.Streeting criticised the effectiveness of Labour’s first two years in power – all of which he has spent in cabinet – saying Labour “arrived in government underprepared in too many areas and lacking clarity of vision and direction”. Continue reading...
NHS experts and MPs say he ‘told a good story’ as health secretary while kicking the difficult cans down the roadUK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting’s 22 months in office was characterised by relentless media interviews, newspaper editorials and Department of Health and Social Care press releases. They portrayed a dynamic health secretary who was clearing up the mess he inherited in the NHS, pushing ahead with radical changes and making progress on what matters most to patients – accessing care when they need it.Having initially declared the NHS “broken” – by the Conservatives – it is six months since he first declared that the health service was now, on his watch, “on the road to recovery” – a claim he has made regularly since. He included the gist of it again – a sort of greatest hits collection – in his resignation letter to Keir Starmer at lunchtime on Thursday. Continue reading...
Now former health secretary and Manchester mayor could be about to make an unlikely deal to oust Keir StarmerWho said the Labour party needs “a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism … It needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates”?Until this morning, almost everyone would have attributed those words to Andy Burnham, the mayor or Greater Manchester. But those were the closing paragraphs of the former health secretary Wes Streeting’s resignation letter, a cadence so similar to Burnham’s own that it cannot be accidental. Continue reading...
Streeting, who is on the party’s right, had long been rumoured to be gathering support for tilt at leadershipUK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting has quit as health secretary and called on Keir Starmer to resign as prime minister, saying it would have been “dishonourable” to remain in post and that there should now be a contest for the Labour leadership.But Streeting, who is on the party’s right, will not immediately launch a challenge and said he wanted to see a leadership contest with a broad range of candidates – a suggestion that the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, could fight in the contest. Continue reading...
Outgoing health secretary declares Labour’s ‘plan for the NHS is working’ as hospitals hit key targetHospitals in England have hit a key target for improving the time it takes patients to get treatment, which prompted Wes Streeting to declare that Labour’s “plan for the NHS is working” before departing as health secretary.Streeting had told the NHS to ensure that hospitals treated at least 65% of patients within 18 weeks by the end of March. New figures NHS England published today showed that hospitals did so, treating 65.3% on the NHS waiting list within that timeframe in March. Continue reading...
Despite slim majority of 528, many constituents of potential Labour leadership candidate seem rather fond of himUK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting’s potential leadership bid has been the subject of mockery from figures within Labour, while the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s slapdown of the now former health secretary in the Commons on Wednesday went viral on social media.However, in Streeting’s parliamentary seat of Ilford North, his constituents seem rather fond of him and pleased with the prospect that their MP could get the keys to No 10. Lesley, who works in Tesco in Barkingside, said: “He’d be very good. He comes into Tesco’s a lot, he’s a nice man. He talks to all of us.” Continue reading...
Source claims Streeting has enough support to challenge Keir Starmer but he is still hoping PM will resignUK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting is locked in a standoff with Number 10 as allies claimed he had the numbers to launch a challenge but still hoped the prime minister would resign.The health secretary had been widely expected to launch a leadership challenge on Thursday and has told supporters he has got the 81 MPs required to launch a formal contest. A source close to Streeting said he had the numbers but “things are shifting”. Continue reading...
Health secretary’s move to force race sparks scramble on left of Labour for candidate to oppose himUK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting is preparing to launch a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer on Thursday if the health secretary can secure the support of enough MPs to trigger a contest.Streeting’s move to force a race has sparked a frantic scramble on the left of Labour to find a candidate to oppose him, with Ed Miliband and Angela Rayner both possible contenders. Continue reading...
Health secretary’s lack of challenge had reassured Starmer and his allies – but then briefings for a speculative Thursday launch emergedAs the unofficial political truce of the king’s speech approached, with still no sign of a leadership challenge from Wes Streeting, some of his Labour colleagues assumed the health secretary’s chance to go for the top job might have passed for ever.“There is a risk he becomes the David Miliband of this generation if he doesn’t do something,” one MP said, a reference to another longtime heir apparent who never made the final step. Continue reading...
Wes Streeting is expected to launch a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer as soon as Thursday. News of the health secretary’s plans came during the king’s speech, derailing what was supposed to be another chance for the prime minister to reset the political agenda. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s head of national news, Archie Bland Continue reading...
Sources say health secretary intends to trigger leadership election as early as ThursdayUK politics live – latest updatesWho are the main threats to Starmer’s leadership?Allies of Wes Streeting have said he is preparing to stand down as health secretary amid deep frustration with Keir Starmer’s leadership, and could mount a formal challenge for the leadership as early as Thursday.Downing Street insiders had suggested Streeting did not yet have the required support from 81 MPs, which is needed to formally launch a leadership bid, after the prime minister issued a “put up or shut up” ultimatum to his cabinet. Continue reading...
Another ally of health secretary renews call for resignation of prime minister, who is due to deliver king’s speech• UK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting has held talks with Keir Starmer in Downing Street as an ally of the health secretary renewed calls for the prime minister to resign, saying his authority had “irretrievably ebbed away”.Streeting arrived in No 10 on Wednesday morning amid intense speculation over Labour’s leadership crisis and his own future within the party, before leaving approximately 16 minutes later without commenting to the media. Continue reading...
A number of the health secretary’s allies called for the prime minister’s resignation but Streeting has yet to call for a formal leadership challengeReport: Starmer given a lifeline after Streeting challenge fails to materialiseGood morning. There are two main events in the diary today. At this point, it is not entirely clear which will turn out to be more consequential.At 11.15am the king will arrive at parliament for the state opening. The king’s speech sets out the legislative programme for the next year. Kiran Stacey has a preview here. Continue reading...
Downing Street insiders suggest health secretary does not yet have the support for a leadership pushUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer was increasingly confident that he had seen off the immediate threat to his job on Tuesday after a challenge from Wes Streeting failed to materialise despite several of the prime minister’s allies quitting the government.Downing Street insiders suggested that the health secretary did not yet have the required support from the 81 MPs he needed to formally launch a leadership bid after Starmer issued a ‘put up or shut up’ ultimatum to his cabinet. Continue reading...
With Starmer under growing pressure to resign, Growth and Tribune groups put forward ideas for policy revampsUK politics live – latest updatesGroups connected to the health secretary, Wes Streeting, and the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, have proposed large changes to government policy, giving a sense of how the country may change should either one succeed Keir Starmer.The Growth Group, allied to Streeting, and the Tribune group of Labour MPs, allied to Burnham, have published competing visions for how Britain should run, including sweeping tax cuts, help with the cost of living and big reforms to government machinery. Continue reading...
Health secretary’s soft-right credentials put him at a disadvantage even with reduced membership under StarmerUK politics live – latest updates“Country first, party second” is a mantra Keir Starmer and his cabinet have repeated since being in opposition, seeking to draw a dividing line between Labour and their Conservative predecessors’ inclination for self-destruction.But party members do matter in politics – and a key problem for Wes Streeting, one of those with ambitions to succeed Keir Starmer, is that many of Labour’s do not like him. Continue reading...
Chances of Starmer remaining in No 10 appear to be diminishing as about 40 Labour MPs call for him to quitUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer is facing a perilous 24 hours as allies of Wes Streeting said he was prepared to bid for the leadership if the prime minister’s premiership falls apart this week.Starmer was hoping to save his job with a speech that sets out his vision for turning the country around on Monday, after a disastrous set of local election results in which the party lost support to Reform UK and the Greens. Continue reading...
Health secretary’s ‘power grab’ to override Nice comes amid growing concern move may be illegal and benefit big pharmaDozens of MPs are opposing Wes Streeting’s decision to award himself power to dictate what the NHS pays for drugs amid growing concern the move may be illegal.Thirty-one MPs have signed a House of Commons motion voicing their disapproval of the health secretary being handed the power to override the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (Nice) judgment on how much the NHS should spend on individual medicines. Continue reading...