Energy Secretary Ed Miliband Urges Labour to Look Ahead After Starmer Offers Apology to Wes Streeting for Negative Media Leaks
Senior Labour Party official Ed Miliband has urged the party to put aside party conflicts after leader Keir Starmer directly said sorry to health minister Wes Streeting MP over hostile media stories linked to Number 10.
Important Developments
- Ed Miliband states the Prime Minister will fire the No 10 source behind for briefing against Wes Streeting if discovered
- The Energy Secretary dismisses any party leader aspirations, saying his previous time as Labour leader was the "most effective vaccine" against desiring the role again
- British economic growth increased by just 0.1 percent in the July-September period, hit by the JLR hack
Situation
The political unrest started after media stories emerged about critical background comments from the Prime Minister's team targeting the Health Secretary. Despite early efforts to dismiss the incident, the discussion between the PM and the health minister according to sources took a different turn.
The Prime Minister expressed regret to Streeting, reporters have been advised. The discussion was concise, and they did not talk about the chief of staff, whom Starmer is now under growing pressure to dismiss.
Miliband's Response
In his early morning media interviews, Miliband stressed the need for the Labour Party to focus on country-wide priorities rather than internal conflicts.
Clearly, I think the media briefing has been bad, certainly.
But my advice to the Labour members now is straightforward, which is we need to focus on the public, not our internal matters.
We were given a historic election win last July, a major opportunity to improve our nation. And we have a serious obligation.
Growth Update
Meanwhile, government figures showed the British economy grew by just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, with the manufacturing industry especially affected by the recently reported JLR cyber-attack.
Today's Schedule
- Morning: NHS England publishes its latest statistics
- Morning: Wes Streeting visits Liverpool
- Morning: The Chancellor speaks to the press
- 11.30am: Number 10 conducts its daily lobby briefing
- Today: The Prime Minister highlights plans for the Britain's pioneering nuclear power plant at Wylfa on the island of Anglesey
