Labour Party staff have pleaded for members not to speak to any journalists at an Ed Miliband event tonight. What could legions of party members do to derail the ‘real Prime Minister’s’ event?
The Energy Secretary will be the special guest at the launch of the Southwark Labour 2026 manifesto this evening at a venue in East Dulwich. Also in attendance will be council leader Sarah King and housing minister/Miliband ally Miatta Fahnbulleh, who is MP for Peckham…
An email from party organisers to attendees has warned Labour members off daring to speak to assembled hacks:
“You will be asked to show your Labour Party membership number and/or photo ID for security reasons. The press will be at the launch, but please do not talk to them. We will be taking photos and video of the whole event which will be used in political campaign materials – if you do not want to feature in the photos, please let [RECACTED] know and we will make arrangements. If you could arrive at 6.30pm and we will get our campaign off to a flying start.”
If approached by a journalist remember the three steps: stop, drop, and roll…
Labour MPs are increasingly open to the prospect of Rachel Reeves’ removal in a Starmer last gasp reshuffle. The Chancellor has attempted to bounce back following her removal from the China trip and subsequent disappearance from screens…
Backbenchers report to the i Paper that Reeves is attempting to shore herself up in case of that eventuality with “lots of private outreach, like messaging people after their interventions in debates to say ‘thanks’ or ‘well done’.” Something she would presumably never otherwise do…
The PLP is starting to view Reeves’ shuffling out of the Treasury as a possibility thanks to Starmer having been kneecapped by the soft left. If Rayner, Miliband, and the rest of the soft leftists are even bothered to do a deal with the flailing PM for post-May, Reeves’ head is a likely demand. The backbenchers blame her for most of the screw-ups and some much prefer Miliband…
Starmer and Reeves have long tied themselves together politically. A fast-moving No10 operation began to view the Chancellor as moveable at the beginning of this month. Starmer is a hostage to fortune now – that’s not to say he won’t sacrifice every last ally before his ship goes down…
After a string of new Epstein revelations over the weekend Peter Mandelson wrote to Labour’s general secretary Hollie Ridley last night to resign his Labour membership and said:
“I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this.
Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me.
While doing this, I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party.
I want to take this opportunity to repeat my apology to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now.
I have dedicated my life to the values and success of the Labour Party and in taking my decision, I believe I am acting in its best interests.”
Starmer vaguely suggested that Mandelson should testify before Congress: “Anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that.” Couldn’t even bring himself to remove Mandelson’s membership himself…
The scandal will persist – tax lawyer Dan Neidle is pursuing several lines of inquiry on Mandelson this morning including what he claims to be evidence of him passing internal sensitive No10 documents to Epstein. The Tories have managed to produce a call for a “thorough independent investigation” into Mandy:
“Keir Starmer and his Chief of Staff appointed Mandelson Ambassador despite his relationship with Epstein, and then refused to act even as the mountain of evidence against him grew.
“Given the Prime Minister’s appalling lack of judgment and the participation of his Downing Street operation, there must now be a full and thorough independent investigation.”
How long before he gets a sit-down interview with the BBC and a chin-stroking magazine article series this time?
Westminster’s Labour MPs are redirecting staffing resources away from London and out to their constituencies as support for the government falls to record lows. Good luck banging the drum for Labour on the doorstep…
As the government commits its 12th major U-turn Guido hears swathes of the PLP will bolster their constituency operations – often neglected – to try and improve their local popularity and do more basic groundwork. Filling a popularity vacuum left by Starmer’s government…
A glance at the Westminster jobs site W4MP confirms numerous Labour MPs have already begun the process as of Wednesday. With backbenchers in open and often successful rebellion against government policies their constituency staff can advertise just how much their MP is championing constituency concerns…
This is the same instinct that leads Anas Sarwar to tell ministers and Starmer to stay “behind their doors” during the campaign in Scotland. Constituency staff will also provide local support during the May election period. Starmer only gets less popular…
Just over a month on from her comfortable victory in the Labour Deputy Leadership race, Lucy Powell’s footprint on Labour’s website and social media channels is virtually non-existent. Aside from a 60-word article shared on the day of the announcement (under ‘member updates’), the only mention of Powell’s title is buried on the NEC page. She appeared on the party’s Instagram profile the day she won, and hasn’t returned since. Almost as if she wasn’t the top brass’s preferred candidate…
The ‘Labour people’ tab doesn’t mention Powell by name, or even that Labour has a Deputy Leader. The prominent photo on the front of that page used to feature Sir Keir, Rachel Reeves, and Powell’s predecessor Angela Rayner. Now it’s just the first two. Even the ‘latest’ news tab, which was updated this week following the Winter Budget, somehow forgot to mention that the Labour Party elected a new Deputy Leader last month. Surely, of all places, that’s where you’d expect to see something…
Speaking to Adam Boulton on Times Radio about kicking the Golders Green suspect, Heidi Alexander said:
“I thought that if I was in the shoes of that police officer, then if I’m honest, given the situation, and the fact that he had a backpack on his back, and they were worried about whether that might go off, I could, if I was a police officer, frankly, I could see myself having taken similar action.”
