The fallout for Starmer is snowballing. MPs, unions, and Labour groups are coming out with scathing criticism…
Rayner has gleefully weighed in:
“This result must be a wake up call. It’s time to really listen – and to reflect. Voters want the change that we promised – and they voted for. If we want to unrig the system, if we want to make the change we were sent into Government to make, we have to be braver.
A labour agenda that puts people first. That’s what all of us across our movement need to rededicate ourselves to this morning.”
Labour MP Jon Trickett told Times Radio the PM “needs to reflect on his own position.” Karl Turner – practically screaming down the phone on the Today Programme – said he begged Starmer not to block Andy Burnham and that the party needs to shift policy radically with a wealth tax. Usual suspects Nadia Whittome, Richard Burgon, and Andy McDonald attacked Starmer for not being left wing enough…
Then come the unions. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said:
“If Labour needed any further wake up calls – this is clearly one. Labour need to now ditch the gimmicks and get back to being Labour – not new, not one that plays games, but real Labour.
Workers and families are hurting. We have a cost of living crisis largely being ignored and investment in jobs for the here-and-now being blocked by a Treasury that doesn’t seem to understand the basics of what is needed to build Britain.
Stop listening your rich mates and start listening to everyday people.”
Andrea Egan, leading Unison, said Starmer is “failing on every count”:
“If the government wants to survive, it urgently needs to stand up for workers and defend our fundamental values.”
And Steve Wright of the Fire Brigades Union:
“If the government does not change course immediately, it will face heavy losses in the May elections, and at that point, the political consequences for Keir Starmer will become unavoidable.”
The Burnham-backing Labour group Mainstream said:
“Our leader and sections of the NEC blocked the one candidate who could have won it for us. That decision now looks like a catastrophic error. We need an immediate and fundamental reset now.“
A dour Harriet Harman called the result “bruising” on her podcast with Beth Rigby. Time to crack out that emergency reshuffle?
UPDATE: Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan told Times Radio this afternoon that if Keir Starmer “is seen as a block” to people voting Labour, then from an “electoral strategic view, you have to remove that block.”
The Green Party’s Hannah Spencer won by quite some margin in the Gorton and Denton by-election yesterday. Labour came third behind Reform. The Tories lost their deposit…
There was a 47.50% turnout. The results:
Labour had not lost an election in the area since 1931 until last night, near halving their 50.8% of the vote in 2024. That is Labour’s 13th highest fall in support in a by-election. Polling guru John Curtice told BBC Breakfast:
“The nervousness that already existed inside the Labor Party about Keir Starmer’s ability to turn around his party’s electoral fortunes, that nervousness is now going to be heightened. Not that there will be any move against the Prime Minister before May the 7th, but his chances of surviving after May the 7th if the results are bad, have, I think, been diminished.”
Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell has already had to insist that “Keir is the right person for the job” this morning. The unions are starting to turn on Starmer, with general secretary of Unison Andrea Egan saying: “Under Keir Starmer the party is failing on every count, leaving the Greens to fill the vacuum.” Meanwhile, Reform’s Matt Goodwin said after his loss:
“A dangerous Muslim sectarianism has emerged. We have only one general election left to save Britain. Vote Reform every chance you get. I will continue the fight. I will always fight for you. I will stand at the next general election.”
Zack Polanski said after his party’s victory:
“This used to be one of Labour’s safest seats. The Green party saw a record-breaking swing in our direction and more than tripled our vote…Many ex-Labour voters told our canvassers that they will never go back to a party that supports genocide, fuels racism, and has failed to deliver on its promise to improve life for people across the country.”
Clock is ticking for Starmer…
The European Commission has tasked the bloc’s anti-fraud agency – Olaf – to investigate Peter Mandelson’s activities while British commissioner for trade from 2004-2008. It just keeps getting worse…
The Commission told the FT: “Given the circumstances, and the significant amount of documents made available publicly, the European Commission . . . asked OLAF on 18 February to look into the matter… As new documents were published recently, we are looking into these and assessing whether there is any breach of the respective obligations.” That’s another win for Nigel Farage who wrote to Olaf this month asking for a probe into Mandelson…
Guido has had a look at the treaty compiled by Labour, the left-wing Gibraltarian chief minister Fabian Picardo, and the EU. Here are the worst developments summarised:
All that in exchange for easier access to the EU. Guido is aware this is a long list – it is a Labour sellout after all…
A hearing at the British Indian Ocean Territory court today has extended an injunction preventing the removal of the Chagossian settlers on the archipelago. A win…
The injunction will go on until 13 March at the earliest – a two week reprieve. The only restriction from the court is that “passengers” can’t be transported to/from the settlement…
The settlers are however allowed to bring “suitable crew,” which the court has not defined. Misley Mandarin, Chagossian First Minister leading the settler population, said:
“The decision made in the BIOT Supreme Court today, means the Government cannot remove us from the Chagos Islands. We can continue to get essential supplies on the island by boat. This is a crucial step forward in our battle against Sir Keir Starmer’s attempts to seize and give away our Chagos Islands. We will continue to build our settlement; we will do everything necessary to win this fight to save our islands; we are home — and we will not leave!”
The fight goes on…
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.”