Starmer:
“We made a number of calls which were the right calls in terms of stabilising the economy, investing in our public services and not getting dragged into the Iran war. But we also made unnecessary mistakes. And my job now is to set out the steps that we will take to bring about the change that people want and and deserve.”
Asked if he would resign:
“No, I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos. We were elected to deal with these challenges and that’s what we will do… I think it’s very important that we don’t sugarcoat these results. So, I’m not going to do that. They are tough results. I accept that. Um, they reflect um voters who don’t feel that their lives have changed enough or quickly enough and that’s been going on for a long time. We were elected to deal with that. And I’m not going to walk away from that responsibility and plunge the country into chaos.”
So far backbencher Jonathan Brash has called for Starmer to go. Ministers watching with beady eyes…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”