Starmer’s speech ‘too little, too late’, says Catherine West, and urges Labour MPs to back calls for him to quit<\/p>\n
Here is the full statement from Catherine West, the former minister who on Saturday announced that, if a cabinet minister did not come forward to challenge Keir Starmer<\/a> for the leadership, she would do it herself.<\/p>\n double quotation markI have listened to the prime minister\u2019s speech this morning. I welcome the renewed energy and ideas. However, I have reluctantly concluded that this morning\u2019s speech was too little too late.<\/p>\n The results last Thursday show that the prime minister has failed to inspire hope.<\/p>\n What is best for the party and country now is for an orderly transition.<\/p>\n I am hereby giving notice to No 10 that I am collecting names of Labour MPs to call on the prime minister to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September.<\/p>\n I want to thank everyone who has been in contact over the weekend to offer good wishes. We need our best top team in place to fight the next election. We owe working people up and down the country nothing less.<\/p>\n West is no longer \u2013 at least, in this statement \u2013 proposing to stand herself. There is a mechanism for a Labour<\/a> MP with the support of 80 colleagues to be a leadership candidate.<\/p>\n But there is no threshold in Labour party rules for the number of signatures required to force the PM to set out a timetable for his departure.<\/p>\n West seems to be hoping that, if enough Labour MPs back her call, Starmer will eventually shift \u2013 or an alternative candidate, capable of getting the 80 names, may come forward.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.20 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 20m ago<\/p>\n Curtis says new Labour leader should be elected well before September, which is timetable proposed by West<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 42m ago<\/p>\n Labour MP Chris Curtis says Starmer should stand down<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 55m ago<\/p>\n Rayner tells CWU she was ‘born in Stockport, but raised in trade union movement’<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 1h ago<\/p>\n Rayner says Burnham should be allowed to be Labour byelection candidate so he can return to parliament<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 1h ago<\/p>\n Rayner says people turning ‘to populists and nationalists’ because Labour not fixing cost of living problems<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 1h ago<\/p>\n Rayner tells CWU it’s clear what Labour government is doing ‘isn’t working’<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 1h ago<\/p>\n Angela Rayner addresses CWU conference<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 1h ago<\/p>\n Starmer’s speech – verdict from commentariat<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 1h ago<\/p>\n Starmer’s speech ‘too little, too late’, says Catherine West, and urges Labour MPs to back calls for him to quit<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 2h ago<\/p>\n Catherine West reportedly set to press ahead with call for Starmer to set timetable for resignation<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 2h ago<\/p>\n Labour MP David Smith joins those saying Starmer should set departure date, saying Labour must ‘act faster, and be more radical’<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 2h ago<\/p>\n Starmer says constant leadership changes under Tories ‘inflicted huge damage on this country’<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer refuses to rule out including plan to join EU’S single market or customs union in Labour’s next manifesto<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer says he will fight any challenge to his leadership<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer insists he can prove his doubters wrong<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer says ‘chaos of constantly changing leaders’ under Tories was bad for UK, with working people paying price<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer plays down prospect of Burnham being allowed by Labour to be byelection candidate<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer says government will ban far-right agitators from travelling to UK for march planned for Saturday<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer says he will set ‘new direction for Britain’ at next summit with EU<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer attacks Farage’s record on Brexit, saying he is ‘not just a grifter, he’s a chancer’<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer says government will bring forward legislation this week to nationalise British Steel<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer says he needs to talk more about how Labour is acting on behalf of working people<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer says ‘stories beat spreadsheets’ and ‘people need hope’<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 3h ago<\/p>\n Starmer says UK will go ‘down very dark path’ if Labour does not recover and get things right<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 4h ago<\/p>\n Kyle says Wes Streeting, his friend, not plotting to oust Starmer<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 4h ago<\/p>\n Kyle suggests Rayner, and other candidates, could put public finances in ‘peril’ with spending policies<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 4h ago<\/p>\n Kyle says it was Burnham himself who chose to leave Commons, as he rubbishes talk of Labour allowing swift return for mayor<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 5h ago<\/p>\n Starmer to propose stronger links with EU, as Peter Kyle claims significant change possible within Labour’s manifesto red lines<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 5h ago<\/p>\n Starmer to say \u2018incremental change won\u2019t cut it\u2019 in major make-or-break speech to avert leadership challenge<\/p>\n <\/a>Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Kemi Badenoch has claimed (implausibly) that she takes no pleasure in seeing Keir Starmer in difficulties. In a post<\/a> on social media, she said:<\/p>\n double quotation markKeir Starmer\u2019s speech was sad to watch. With so many resets, even his reset button needs a reset.<\/p>\n But I do not take pleasure in watching the Prime Minister flounder. The country needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong, but still can\u2019t explain why.<\/p>\n This is Labour\u2019s real problem. It is not just Starmer – all the pretenders jostling for his job do not have the answers either, because they all believe the same things: more welfare, more state control, more borrowing, more regulation. They are busy arguing over who should drive the car, but the truth is they are all heading in the wrong direction. They have no vision for the future.<\/p>\n And Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, criticised Starmer for not committing to joining an EU customs union.<\/p>\n double quotation markVoters sent Keir Starmer a clear message that Britain needs a bold new direction, but he keeps delivering the same old speech.<\/p>\n If the Government wants to regain the trust of the British people, they have to end the cost of living crisis. There is no way of doing that without getting rid of Keir Starmer\u2019s red lines on Europe and fixing the botched Brexit deal, including a customs union. It\u2019s really that simple.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here is Peter Walker\u2019s story on Catherine West urging other Labour<\/a> MPs to join calls for Starmer\u2019s resignation \u2013 but no longer proposing to stand as a candidate herself.<\/p>\n This is from<\/a> Jessica Elgot, summing up the change in West\u2019s position perfectly.<\/p>\n double quotation markLabour MP: \u201cCatherine West is no longer trying to appoint herself as PM, she\u2019s trying to appoint herself as Graham Brady.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Curtis says new Labour leader should be elected well before September, which is timetable proposed by West<\/p>\n The Labour MP Chris Curtis started his interview on Sky News by paying tribute to Keir Starmer<\/a>, and what he had done to get Labour elected.<\/p>\n But he went on:<\/p>\n double quotation markBut I think the moment, the dramatic situation that we face \u2013 the geo-political context, the fact that we had such a difficult economic inheritance \u2013 does mean that we need more radical change than the government has set out so far.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think we saw a plan from the prime minister this morning in order to implement the kind of change that this country needs.<\/p>\n And I therefore think it\u2019s time for us to look for new leadership.<\/p>\n And I think what that means is the prime minister rightly now setting out a timetable and an orderly process for a leadership election, and one in which Labour has a discussion about the vision for the country and what changes we think are needed in order to face the very real challenges that Britain currently faces.<\/p>\n Curtis said the Labour<\/a> Growth Group would be publishing a report tomorrow on economic plans to renew Britain. He said he hoped a new Labour leader would be able to take forward some of those ideas.<\/p>\n Asked about the call from Catherine West for Starmer to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September (see 12.20pm<\/a>), Curtis said that was too long to wait. \u201cI certainly think the timetable should be much shorter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Asked if he expected to see \u201coverwhelming\u201d numbers of Labour MPs coming out this week demanding a timetable for Starmer\u2019s resignation, Curtis replied: \u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n Curtis is seen as a Wes Streeting<\/a> supporter. In an interview on the Today programme this morning, when he was told that Streeting had once described him as \u201cbrilliant\u201d, Curtis claimed not to be aware of that. Asked if he thought Streeting himself was brilliant, Curtis said he was doing a \u201cfantastic job\u201d as health secretary.<\/p>\n Asked if he thought Streeting would be a brilliant PM, Curtis said there was \u201ca wide range of talent\u201d in the party.<\/p>\n Agreeing to elect a new Labour leader by September would (provided he could win a byelection) allow Andy Burnham<\/a> to be a candidate. Holding the election sooner would benefit Burnham\u2019s rivals.<\/p>\n Chris Curtis on Sky News Photograph: Sky NewsShare<\/a>Labour MP Chris Curtis says Starmer should stand down<\/p>\n In an interview on Sky News, Chris Curtis, the Labour MP who is chair of the Labour Growth Group, has just announced that he no longer has confidence in Keir Starmer<\/a> and wants him to set a timetable for his resignation.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.03 EDT<\/p>\n Getting back to wider policy, Rayner said \u201ctweaks\u201d would not be enough to fix the problems facing the economy.<\/p>\n double quotation markI don\u2019t need to be persuaded that tweaks won\u2019t fix the fundamental challenges that our country faces.<\/p>\n This government needs to put measures in place that makes people\u2019s lives better. We need to fix the foundations of a system that is rigged against them, because we know that things can be so much better than this.<\/p>\n Spain and Canada have shown that a economies can grow and people can thrive when governments stay true to their values and put people first. And we need to learn from that.<\/p>\n In London, we lost young people who fear they will never afford a home.<\/p>\n And in my patch and across the north, we lost working people whose wages are too low and the costs are too high.<\/p>\n In Scotland and Wales people do not currently see Labour as the answer.<\/p>\n Conference, for too long governments have allowed wealth and power to concentrate at the top without a plan to ensure that the benefits of economic growth are shared fairly.<\/p>\n The result has been an economy that does not work for the majority, with wealth concentrated in far too few hands.<\/p>\n Rayner said that the the government could \u201ccut the cost for households and put money back in the everyday economy\u201d, in a way that was consistent with the government\u2019s fiscal rules.<\/p>\n She ended by quoting the late John Prescott, who was also a union person and a former deputy PM.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe late John Prescott used to tell me, \u2018You\u2019ve got a voice, kid, use it.\u2019 A union man to his core. John would have relished this fight.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Addressing the importance of affiliation to the Labour<\/a> party, Rayner said that the government would not have passed the Employment Rights Act, or other workers\u2019 rights measures, without having trade unions affiliated to the party.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Rayner tells CWU she was ‘born in Stockport, but raised in trade union movement’<\/p>\n Rayner praises the role played by trade unions in Labour<\/a> politics.<\/p>\n double quotation markLabour exists to make working people better off, and that is not happening fast enough. And that needs to change now.<\/p>\n Conference, the trade union movement taught me that if you have strong values, if you work collectively, you can get things done no matter what you\u2019re up against.<\/p>\n Conference, the trade union movement, the Labour party is not just a political alliance, it\u2019s a family. And in families you have your ups and downs and we have.<\/p>\n But we look out for each other. And in the end, we\u2019re always there for each other.<\/p>\n And it was the Tories that wrote me off and said that kids like me we\u2019re getting pregnant to get a council house. That wasn\u2019t what was on my mind when I was young. I was scared. I was frightened and I was looking for opportunity.<\/p>\n And it thanks to our Labour family that I was able to improve my life and the lives of my fellow workers who I represented as their trade union rep.<\/p>\n Our Labour family. Our union family gave me those opportunities.<\/p>\n You were there for me and proved that kids like me deserve better than that, and I wouldn\u2019t be stood in front of you today if it wasn\u2019t for our movement.<\/p>\n I may have been born in Stockport, but I was raised in the trade union movement.<\/p>\n These comments drew significant applause. And they are timely; later this afternoon the CWU will be debating whether it should remain affiliated to the Labour party.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Rayner says Burnham should be allowed to be Labour byelection candidate so he can return to parliament<\/p>\n Rayner says Andy Burnham<\/a> should never have been blocked from being the byelection candidate in Gorton and Denton.<\/p>\n double quotation markWe as a party have to do better than this, and we can only prove we mean our Labour values by putting the common interests ahead of factionalism.<\/p>\n And we can start by accepting that Andy Burnham should never have been blocked.<\/p>\n It was a mistake that the leadership of our party should put right.<\/p>\n This was also something that Rayner said in her long statement issued last night; in fact, quite a lot of what she is saying was in that statement.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Rayner says people turning ‘to populists and nationalists’ because Labour not fixing cost of living problems<\/p>\n Rayner says people feel the system is rigged against them.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe cost of living is the top issue for voters of all parties.<\/p>\n People have turned to populists and nationalists because we have not done enough to fix it.<\/p>\n Living standards are barely higher than they were a decade and a half ago.<\/p>\n People feel \u2026 that the cost of living crisis will never end. And now they see the oil and gas companies using global instability to post record profits. And once again, working class people are paying the price for the decisions that they didn\u2019t make.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no wonder that across the UK people feel that the system is rigged against them.<\/p>\n The Labour party must now live up to its name. We must be the party for working people.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Rayner tells CWU it’s clear what Labour government is doing ‘isn’t working’<\/p>\n Rayner says what Labour<\/a> is doing is not working.<\/p>\n double quotation markAs Dave [Ward] says, this has not been an easy moment. Our party has suffered historic defeats. Many good Labour colleagues have lost their seats. People who gave everything for their communities that they represented. A<\/p>\n And it\u2019s clear that what we\u2019re doing isn\u2019t working, and it needs to change.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.35 EDT<\/p>\n Angela Rayner addresses CWU conference<\/p>\n Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, is about to address the CWU conference in Bourneouth.<\/p>\n She is being introduced by Dave Ward, the CWU general secrertary, who says Rayner did as much as anyone to push the Employment Rights Act through parliament.<\/p>\n He says she is a \u201cstrong working-class woman\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Starmer’s speech – verdict from commentariat<\/p>\n This was billed as a make-or-break speech. By Keir Starmer\u2019s standards, it was reasonably good. But it is always naive to believe that a person can transform into someone else overnight and anyone expecting Starmer to turn up this morning presenting as Barack Obama, or Nye Bevan, or FD Roosevelt \u2013 or even Andy Burnham<\/a> \u2013 will obviously be disappointed.<\/p>\n In policy terms, Starmer failed to match the \u201cincremental change won\u2019t cut it\u201d challenged that he set himself. (See 8.47am<\/a>.) On Europe, there was just a refusal to rule out putting a line about joining the single market or a customs union in the next Labour manifesto. (See 11.02am<\/a>.) The main announcement was about a steel plant that has already been under government control for about a year anyway. (See 10.28am<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Some commentators believe that Starmer sounded marginally more open to Labour<\/a> letting Burnham run as a byelection candidate than he had been in the past. He did not say no; just that it was up to the NEC (which he controls anyway.) But it did not sound like a big shift, or a sign that Starmer is going to green-light his return to the Commons soon.<\/p>\n Starmer was strongest arguing that another change of PM would be bad for Britain. (See 11.12am<\/a>.) On this, he was at his most persuasive.<\/p>\n This is what other commentators are saying.<\/p>\n From <\/a>Henry Zeffman, the BBC\u2019s chief political correspondent<\/p>\n double quotation markAt points, Keir Starmer\u2019s delivery recalled what most Labour MPs see as his most successful speech as prime minister, at the party\u2019s conference last September.<\/p>\n In terms of substance, though, Starmer did not deliver the clear change of direction or policy-laden agenda that at least some of his MPs say they crave.<\/p>\n From<\/a> Beth Rigby, Sky\u2019s political editor<\/p>\n double quotation markI think [Starmer] knew what he wanted to do and what he needed to do in terms of trying to inject a bit of passion into the job. But look, I think on the substance of it, there wasn\u2019t really much in it. It was quite thin gruel.<\/p>\n From the BBC\u2019s Iain Watson<\/p>\n double quotation markI am not getting the sense that it\u2019s been seen as a poor speech by MPs, just not transformational. \u201cDelivery fine\u2026.but no real substance,\u201d texted a former Labour official.<\/p>\n From<\/a> ITV\u2019s Paul Brand<\/p>\n double quotation markOn scale of 0-10, where 0 is Starmer\u2019s worst performance and 10 is his best speech ever, I\u2019d say that was somewhere around an 8 or 9.<\/p>\n He hasn\u2019t set the world alight, but nobody thought he would – he was at the upper end of modest expectations.<\/p>\n Now over to Labour MPs for their verdict…<\/p>\n From<\/a> the Guardian\u2019s Peter Walker<\/p>\n double quotation markIn fairness this is a decent speech from Starmer. But I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s enough new in the content to save him. Nothing yet leaps out. It\u2019s all a bit, \u2018the same, but more passionately\u2019.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe part on Brexit is interesting in the longer-term trend that we now have a Labour PM openly saying that Brexit made the UK poorer and less secure. But without any movement on those famous red lines on Europe, and it probably doesn\u2019t mean much.<\/p>\n double quotation markThat speech was reasonably good by Starmer standards, but if he wanted *any* chance of saving his job, he needed a big old rabbit of a policy \u2013 a change to EU red lines; a nod towards electoral reform; a massive investment plan. This speech didn\u2019t contain that.<\/p>\n From the Times\u2019 Steven Swinford<\/p>\n double quotation markThe speech does not seem to have gone down particularly well with many Labour MPs, who were hoping for something more radical. The numbers calling on him to go continue to rise<\/p>\n From <\/a>Politico\u2019s Emilio Casalicchio<\/p>\n double quotation markThat Starmer speech felt a bit like he was launching a leadership challenge against his own leadership. Criticizing his time in government as too incremental and failing to grasp what people voted for in 2024, and criticizing his failure to offer a convincing narrative\/vision<\/p>\n From<\/a> Lewis Goodall from the News Agents<\/p>\n double quotation markThe move to guarantee survival today would have been to signal PM would be minded to allow Burnham to return if he wanted to. That would have bought time for a King\u2019s speech, a seat to emerge, a by election fought which he might not win. As it is, lack of anything new means events likely to keep spiralling.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.29 EDT<\/p>\n Starmer’s speech ‘too little, too late’, says Catherine West, and urges Labour MPs to back calls for him to quit<\/p>\n Here is the full statement from Catherine West, the former minister who on Saturday announced that, if a cabinet minister did not come forward to challenge Keir Starmer<\/a> for the leadership, she would do it herself.<\/p>\n double quotation markI have listened to the prime minister\u2019s speech this morning. I welcome the renewed energy and ideas. However, I have reluctantly concluded that this morning\u2019s speech was too little too late.<\/p>\n The results last Thursday show that the prime minister has failed to inspire hope.<\/p>\n What is best for the party and country now is for an orderly transition.<\/p>\n I am hereby giving notice to No 10 that I am collecting names of Labour MPs to call on the prime minister to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September.<\/p>\n I want to thank everyone who has been in contact over the weekend to offer good wishes. We need our best top team in place to fight the next election. We owe working people up and down the country nothing less.<\/p>\n West is no longer \u2013 at least, in this statement \u2013 proposing to stand herself. There is a mechanism for a Labour<\/a> MP with the support of 80 colleagues to be a leadership candidate.<\/p>\n But there is no threshold in Labour party rules for the number of signatures required to force the PM to set out a timetable for his departure.<\/p>\n West seems to be hoping that, if enough Labour MPs back her call, Starmer will eventually shift \u2013 or an alternative candidate, capable of getting the 80 names, may come forward.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.20 EDT<\/p>\n Catherine West reportedly set to press ahead with call for Starmer to set timetable for resignation<\/p>\n This is from <\/a>Ollie Cole at Times Radio.<\/p>\n double quotation markUnderstand Catherine West will go ahead with a letter to Labour MPs later today – but stopping short of stating her candidacy.<\/p>\n Will instead canvas support for a timetable for the PM to stand down and allow a transition.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n According to Sky News, there are now 36 Labour MPs<\/a> who have publicly called for Keir Starmer to stand down.<\/p>\n