Starmer’s spokesman told the Lobby briefing of political journalists on Mike Tapp’s position:
“The PM, as you’d expect, will be taking advice the usual way… decisions are for the PM. You’d expect the PM to take advice in the usual way… He’s taking advice in the usual way.”
Starmer still has confidence in Tapp for now. A line from a government source close to Mahmood:
“Mike Tapp wrote a piece in a national newspaper freelancing on policy without the knowledge or agreement of the Home Secretary or her team.
He took proposals that the Home Secretary was working on, and briefed them as his own.
In doing so, he has broken collective responsibility and has breached the Ministerial Code. Now he is threatening to leak sensitive documents. The Home Secretary has asked the Prime Minister to sack him.”
Mahmood’s allies say the junior minister’s requests for documents and meetings will now have to be approved personally by the Home Secretary. Circus…
Gordon Brown hasn’t incurred any travel expenses in his ‘global’ role for Starmer. In fact, it looks like he hasn’t done much at all…
Brown was appointed the Prime Minister’s Special Reviewer on Global Finance and Cooperation on 9 May. Since then Guido’s FoI Unit has established he “hasn’t undertaken any travel in connection with his role” and doesn’t have any of his own staff. Cabinet Office business units help him out when “as and when their expertise are pertinent to the review” at no extra cost…
All Brown has been been given is:
Harriet Harman only took the laptop and phone for her fake role before she started calling for Starmer to resign on various podcasts – Labour loyalty for you. She doesn’t have a dedicated office either…
David Miliband has failed to rule out an entry into Burnham’s government. Speaking at the Institute for Government yesterday the former Foreign Secretary was asked if he would go in and simply said:
“Let him make his choices. Let him make his let him make his choices. He’s got I think we should give him the space to to form his government.”
Miliband has been touted as a possible Foreign Secretary to give heft to domestic Burnham’s operation. Say a long goodbye to that £1 million salary…
Migration and citizenship minister Mike Tapp has said he won’t be intimidated by Shabana Mahmood after the Home Secretary asked for him to be sacked yesterday. All played out in public…
Tapp penned a Times op-ed discussing plans he had made to exempt care workers from Mahmood’s ILR changes. Sources close to Mahmood say he broke the ministerial code in doing so by breaching collective responsibility and added: “He has taken possible ideas that the Home Secretary and her team were working on, and briefed them as his own to try to win a job in the new administration.” All guns blazing…
Starmer has however so far refused to sack the junior minister, who has been leading a zany campaign to force a general election if there is a change of Prime Minister. Tapp has hit back this morning:
‘It’s gone from “he broke the ministerial code” to “he stole my idea”.
I have put my views across on a policy I’ve been working on for months (I have the receipts) in an Op Ed in the times. Give it a read, and let’s continue to discuss.
I won’t be intimidated to drop my views. Stay classy!
Oh and I’m at a wedding in San Francisco, but happy to talk more when I’m back (I promise that’s the Golden Gate Bridge hidden by the fog)’
The incident may have an impact on Mahmood’s likelihood on getting into the Treasury as Chancellor under a Burnham administration. Anti-Mahmoodites are jumping up and down to point out her brashness in this case…
UPDATE: Mahmood allies push back…
“Mike Tapp wrote a piece in a national newspaper freelancing on policy without the knowledge or agreement of the Home Secretary or her team.
“He took proposals that the Home Secretary was working on, and briefed them as his own.
“In doing so, he has broken collective responsibility and has breached the Ministerial Code. Now is he threatening to leak sensitive documents. The Home Secretary has asked the Prime Minister to sack him.”
Iceland boss and Labour’s ‘cost of living champion’ Lord Walker speaking on Newsnight last night on the prospect of Chancellor Ed Miliband:
“He’d be a disaster. I think, listen, of course, you know, I’m speaking on the hottest June on record. Climate change is real. I believe in science. But I think how we’re going about it is far too ideological. I think it’s putting unfair pressure on households and on bill payers in a very regressive way. I think if Ed were to come in, it would be baulked at by the business communities, the markets would freak out.”
First he attacks Starmer and Reeves over benefits, now this. Walker must be suffering from an acute case of buyer’s remorse after defecting from the Tories in 2023. At least he’s speaking more sense recently…
Starmer has returned from yet another social media sabbatical only to be met with a tsunami of troll comments. Some are more creative than others…
Starmer would often retreat from TikTok whenever his premiership was in mortal danger. His blackouts grew more frequent in recent months, for obvious reasons. Who knows how much longer the account will survive, now that his attempt to ‘go where the voters are’ via weird videos achieved nothing…
Badenoch said at her speech on Monday morning: “We are absolutely ready to fight a general election. We say the results in Aberdeen South: 50% of the vote. Because we can unite the country… It’s about uniting the country, for God’s sake, behind a centre-right agenda.”