The Number 10 spokesman has confirmed Starmer’s ‘nothing-to-see-here’ speech to Downing Street staff actually preceded the announcement of Tim Allan’s resignation by around an hour. Hence why there was no reference to Allan in the address…
Number 10 resisted the claim that Allan threw in the towel immediately upon hearing Starmer’s rousing speech, which if true would mean Starmer knew his Director of Communications was about to resign while delivering a speech designed to convince staff his leadership wasn’t imploding. And when asked if the PM planned to resign today, the spokesman said “no”…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”