Sir Keir Starmer has been warned he could be booted out of Downing Street if Andy Burnham fails to win the Makerfield by-election as Labour braces for mass backbench defections to the Greens.
Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips told the Hay Festival “there will be a change of PM” even if the Greater Manchester Mayor does not gain a seat in Parliament.
However, she was quick to add: “I’ve never been to Wigan in my life, so I have absolutely no idea about the people there, so I shall go and find out. But, yes, I imagine Andy Burnham will win it, and I imagine then that the Prime Minister changes.”
It comes as Green Party sources have suggested Labour backbenchers have approached Zack Polanski’s party, declaring their intention to defect.
However, these talks have been paused until the outcome of the crucial by-election on June 18, reports The Telegraph.
Senior left-wing backbenchers, Norwich South MP Clive Lewis and Leeds East MP Richard Burgon were reportedly among the MPs prepared to defect.
A Green Party source said: “We are more interested in winning elections than defections. However, we know that more and more Labour voters and politicians recognise the Green Party as the most authentic party of the Left.”
However, they added: “We will always talk with anyone who shares our values.”
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Wes Streeting warns lawmakers are ‘asleep at the wheel’ over social media
Wes Streeting has warned lawmakers are “asleep at the wheel” on social media and technology regulation.
The former Health Secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Our approach to mobile phones and social media has been akin to basically saying, ‘kids need to learn how to use woodwork, let’s give three-year-olds, five-year-olds some saws, some nails and hammers, and leave them unsupervised and see what happens, because they need to learn how to use the tools’.
“We wouldn’t do that with traditional tools. We shouldn’t do it with modern tools either.”
Rachel Reeves criticises ministers for failing to ‘buy British’
Rachel Reeves has criticised her own ministers
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PA
Rachel Reeves has criticised some of her own cabinet colleagues for not “buying British” as expressed disappointment that ministers have been sending too much Government business abroad.
In a letter which was co-signed by the Cabinet Office minister Chris Ward, the Chancellor wrote: “We should all want to see more businesses grow and prosper and create good, skilled jobs and apprenticeships here in Britain.
“Every secretary of state can and must lead this agenda within their departments if we are to deliver the change the public expect.”
“Therefore, it is disappointing that we are still seeing too many government contract awards where this is not happening.
“We have instructed officials to take further steps to ensure your departments act in the wider national interest rather than solely focusing on narrow operational priorities.”
A Government spokesman told The Guardian: “For the first time, procurement of shipbuilding, along with steel, AI and energy infrastructure, will be recognised as critical for national security.
“We will also issue new guidance prioritising contracts for British business where necessary to protect our national security.”
Green Party confirms candidate for Makerfield by-election
The Greens have announced their new candidate in the Makerfield by-election as Manchester City Councillor, Sarah Wakefield.
On being announced as her party’s candidate, Ms Wakefield said: “I am proud to be representing the Green Party in the Makerfield byelection. It is vital in a democracy that voters are given a choice of who they want to vote for.
“Together we can bring back the hope that politics can create a better life for ourselves and our children. This is what the Green Party represents.
“We showed in Gorton and Denton we can take on and beat Reform, whose backward-looking and divisive politics needs to be challenged head-on with a message that the future can be better and fairer than the failed status quo.
“Don’t vote in anger, vote in hope.”
Katie Lam slams ‘lack of urgency’ over social media ban
Shadow Home Office Minister Katie Lam spoke about the policy on GB News
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GB NEWS
Shadow Home Office Minister Katie Lam has slammed Labour for a “lack of urgency” over social media ban legislation.
She told GB News: “I know that parents and of course bereaved parents are deeply worried, frustrated and upset at this issue.
“Like with everything it is important to get it right and sometimes that can take a little bit of time, but there doesn’t seem to be any urgency from this Government on this issue.”
Rachel Reeves to tax cash held in stocks and shares ISAs in major savings raid
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing to impose a 22 per cent charge on interest generated by cash holdings within stocks and shares ISAs from April 2027 under sweeping reforms to the savings system.
The levy forms part of broader “anti-circumvention rules” designed to prevent savers from exploiting loopholes in the reformed ISA regime, according to sources with knowledge of Treasury discussions.
It mirrors the pre-2014 ISA framework, when a 20 per cent charge applied to cash interest held within stocks and shares accounts.
Our Money reporter Joe Sledge has the full story here.
Labour lost more voters to Greens than Reform UK at local elections, damning poll reveals
Zack Polanski has called for the Prime Minister to resign
| PA
A new poll has revealed Labour lost more voters at this year’s local elections to the Green Party than they did to Reform UK, a shock to Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
According to the YouGov poll of 1,173 people, just 46 per cent of 2024 Labour voters stayed with the party earlier this month, with 22 per cent going to Zack Polanski’s party, compared to 16 per cent going to Sir Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats and just six per cent going to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
By contrast, 33 per cent of Conservative 2024 voters went to Reform UK, with 55 per cent sticking with the Tories.
Meanwhile, the Lib Dems also kept hold of 55 per cent of their 2024 voters, with 21 per cent going to the Greens.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Holyrood set to back call for second independence referendum
MSPs are expected to back a call for Westminster to hand over the powers to allow a second Scottish independence referendum.
Scottish First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney has tabled a motion calling on the UK Government to make a Section 30 order, to devolve to Holyrood the powers needed for such a vote to take place.
It comes the day after Mr Swinney apologised to SNP members after former chief executive Peter Murrell admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the party over a 12-year period.
However, the debate – the first to take place at Holyrood since the May 7 Scottish election, makes clear the First Minister’s determination to win another referendum, despite the SNP’s failure to win an overall majority.
Successive UK governments have dismissed repeated calls from SNP first ministers for a second referendum, with Sir Keir Starmer the latest Prime Minister to rebuff such demands.
Mr Swinney insists, however, there is an “emphatic democratic mandate” for such a vote, after elections earlier this month saw the largest ever number of independence supporting MSPs voted in at the Scottish Parliament.
Wes Streeting likens tech companies to the tobacco industry – ‘We’ve got to give our children their childhood back’
Wes Streeting resigned last week | GETTY
Wes Streeting has likened tech companies to the tobacco industry, and medical leaders have compared the dangers of social media to smoking, as pressure grows on ministers to impose a ban for under-16s ahead of the closure of an online safety consultation.
The Government’s Growing Up In The Online World consultation, which floated measures such an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s, app curfews and limits on addictive features, closes later today.
In his first intervention on the issue since he quit Government earlier this month, former health secretary Mr Streeting said: “Social media should be treated like tobacco, it’s extremely addictive, bad for our health, and Big Tech is borrowing the Big Tobacco playbook to avoid regulation.
“We’ve got to give our children their childhood back. A ban for under-16s must be the start, not the end.
“We have given the pen to tech moguls to write our future for us. It’s time to take the pen back.”