Author: MoorningTimes

History is being rewritten. The story we are told is that an evil man called Peter Mandelson, pursuing his own interests, went rogue to collaborate with a serial abuser of girls and women, undermining the good work of people seeking to defend the public interest. All this is true. But – and I fear many will find this hard to accept – it is only half the story.The much harder truth is that Mandelson’s disgraceful dealings with Jeffrey Epstein were less a betrayal of his brief than an unauthorised extension of it. In 2009 – just as, we now know,…

Keir Starmer is now the only person to have lost more comms chiefs than Meghan and Harry. After yet another day of drama, we kept hearing that the prime minister would be pressing the reset button. Not again! Starmer’s reset button is like the OK button on your TV remote – worn blank through overuse. He has pressed that thing more often than you’ve decided another 44 minutes of a crap thriller is somehow less of an effort than getting yourself to bed. Anyway, next episode in five, four, three …Fine. One more.The inciting incident for yesterday’s deranged chapter was…

The latest edition of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly UK podcast is out. It features Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey talking about yesterday’s apparent bid to topple Keir Starmer.ShareMiliband says Starmer facing down leadership threat must lead to ‘moment of change’, with more ‘clarity’ and ‘boldness’Good morning. One consequence of yesterday – when for a few hours it looked as if Tim Allan’s resignation and Anas Sarwar’s declaration of no confidence looked like the start of a leadership coup that would have topped Keir Starmer if cabinet ministers (and Angela Rayner) had not rallied round – is that Starmer needs a…

On Monday morning, the prime minister was preparing to reset relations with MPs after the resignation of his chief aide, Morgan McSweeney.Just before midday, news broke that Tim Allen, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, had resigned. By lunchtime, it emerged that Anas Sarwar, Labour’s leader in Scotland, was preparing to hold a press conference calling on Starmer to stand down.The intention was to spark a mutiny. But by late afternoon, cabinet ministers were emerging one by one to back the prime minister. For now, his position appears secure.Helen Pidd recounts a whirlwind 24 hours in which the prime minister fought…

It would take 137 years for lower-income families in the UK to see their living standards double at the current rate of growth, according to a thinktank.A two-decade stagnation in disposable incomes has created a “mood of unease” across the country, the Resolution Foundation says, warning of the risk of “further political disruption” unless pay growth accelerates.In the 40 years to 2005, the typical disposable income of working-age families in the poorest half of the population doubled, after growing by 1.8% a year on average once adjusted for inflation, according to the thinktank. In the final decade of that period,…

Keir Starmer’s future as prime minister suffered another major blow when the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, called for him to go. With the cabinet rallying around him, the PM seems to be safe for now, but for how much longer? Pippa and Kiran look at what might happen next Source link

Anas Sarwar has shown he has a ruthless streak. Once one of Keir Starmer’s staunchest cheerleaders and allies, the Scottish Labour leader is now the most senior party figure to call for him to quit.Despite anger among his colleagues and criticism that his decision to demand Starmer stands down was “idiotic, immature and self-defeating”, Sarwar’s political calculation is blunt and uncompromising.Sarwar and his advisers, having watched Scottish Labour’s polling figures plummet as the disarray inside the UK government deepened into chaos and then crisis, believe the risk of calling on Starmer to quit is justified.Sarwar, by delivering a better result…

Others will be shocked by his sleazy, self-regarding disloyalty and apparent lack of concern for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, but something that will puzzle people who knew Peter Mandelson is: how could he be so stupid?Should you be thinking of stabbing a colleague in the back, and betraying your country, your government and your party – to paraphrase the prime minister – a basic precaution is not to leave an email trail. During the 2008 expenses scandal, it was the MPs who left proof of their dishonesty in emails who went to jail. I suspect many others got away with it…

Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureSkills minister Jacqui Smith says she is sure Starmer won’t resignIn interviews this morning Jacqui Smith, the skills minister, insisted that Keir Starmer will carry on as PM.She told Times Radio: I think that the prime minister absolutely is determined to [carry on]. He’s determined and has taken responsibility for the mistakes made in appointing Peter Mandelson. On the Today programme Nick Robinson told Smith that Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, gave an interview yesterday morning saying it would be pointless for Morgan McSweeeny to resign. Only…

More than 300,000 children already living in the UK could be forced to wait 10 years for settled status under proposed changes to the Home Office’s “earned settlement” policy, according to an analysis by a centre left thinktank.The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that nearly a quarter (23%) of the 1.35 million people already on routes to settlement are children, most of them dependants on their families’ work visas.The findings come as Shabana Mahmood faces opposition from Labour MPs over changes to permanent settlement rights.Ministers want to double the time it takes most migrant workers to qualify for…