Starmer has already removed deputy leader Angela Rayner as party chair and campaigns coordinator, after Labour lost control of a host of councils and the “red wall” parliamentary seat of Hartlepool for the first time since its inception in the 1970s.
The Labour leader has faced a backlash from senior figures for apparently sacking Rayner.
Allies insist she has been offered another job in the shadow cabinet but they could not say what it would be, with Starmer in the process of reshuffling his top team on Sunday.
Reports suggest shadow communities secretary Steve Reed could be in line to replace Rayner.
Ian Murray, the shadow secretary for Scotland, and MP Chris Bryant have also been tipped for promotion.
Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds is meanwhile among those reported to be in line for a demotion.
There has also been criticism from some sections of the party of Starmer’s key aide Jenny Chapman, the former MP for Darlington.
Speaking to Times Radio on Sunday, Murray insisted Rayner had not been sacked and that Starmer wants to move her to a “much more prominent role” so Labour can benefit from her “authentic voice”.
But after headlines that Rayner had been sacked sparked outrage from some in the party, Murray admitted: “Communications over the last 24 hours have not been top-quality.”
Pool via Getty ImagesStarmer and Rayner on the campaign trail on Wednesday in Birmingham
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who has signalled he is ready to take over from Starmer if asked, said of Rayner’s sacking: “I can’t support this.
“This is straightforwardly wrong if it’s true.”
Members of former leader Jeremy Corbyn’s team, who come from the left of the party, were among those to criticise the move to “scapegoat” the deputy leader.
Former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott called it “baffling” while John McDonnell labelled it a “huge mistake”.
McDonnell, a former shadow chancellor, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “When the leader of the party on Friday said he takes responsibility for the election result in Hartlepool in particular and then scapegoats Angela Rayner, I think many of us feel that is unfair, particularly as we all know actually that Keir’s style of leadership is that his office controls everything.
“It is very centralised and he controlled the campaign.”
In a further sign of the splits in the party, Labour grandee Lord Peter Mandelson urged Starmer to dilute the influence of party members and “hard left factions” linked to train unions.
He said Starmer was set to embark on a “serious review” of Labour policy.
“I also believe that he needs to to look at how the party is organised, how it represents the genuine grassroots of the party and reflects the genuine views and values of Labour voters across the country in all the nations and the regions of the country,” Mandelson told Times Radio
“The idea that the Labour Party and its policies and its outlook can be driven disproportionately frankly by a mixture of grassroots members in London and the south-east and the sort of hard left factions that are attached to trade unions – that has got to go, we have got to change.
“Party reform therefore I think is an essential part of what Keir has got to take on next.”
As well as undertaking a reshuffle, Starmer has hired Gordon Brown’s former chief pollster Deborah Mattinson – who has written a book about why Labour lost the so-called “red wall” at the 2019 general election – as director of strategy.
Unite the union should stop acting like Keir Starmer’s “backseat driver” and give him time to do his job, a lead contender in the race to replace Len McCluskey has declared.
Gerard Coyne, who was narrowly defeated by McCluskey in 2017, said Unite had been “more focused in messing around in Westminster politics” than delivering for its 1.2 million members in recent years.
In an interview with HuffPost UK, Coyne also said the union should “throw open the shutters” on how it spent members’ money, not least on running up legal bills to fight “political cases” and on a controversial £98m hotel complex it has built in Birmingham.
Starmer is under increasing pressure ahead of the May 6 elections, with the possible loss of the Hartlepool by-election according to some opinion polls.
Earlier this year, McCluskey warned the Labour leader he risked being “dumped in the dustbin of history” if he continued to attack the Left of the party and failed to readmit Jeremy Corbyn as an MP.
But Coyne, the union’s former West Midlands regional secretary, said that he wanted to move Unite away from its general secretary’s practice of regularly commenting on the Labour leadership.
“Keir is the leader of the Labour Party and deserves the time with which to set out his positions. I would prefer to see a Labour government, so I’m supporting what the leader of the Labour Party is doing,” he said.
“But my focus is on what’s happening in Unite the union and focusing on our members. We’ve spent way too much time giving our opinions, our thoughts on the direction of Labour, being a backseat driver for the Labour Party.
“It needs to get on with its day job and we need to get on with our day job. Theirs is to go and win elections, and ours is to represent working people and improve their pay and conditions, and make sure that they’re supported when they need it.
“I’ve been a committed member of the Labour Party all my life, but it’s not what I’m here to do, I’m here to fight an election for the general secretary.”
The UK’s second biggest union is Labour’s biggest financial backer and has played a key role in Labour leadership elections, helping Ed Miliband narrowly beat his brother David in 2010 and defending Corbyn through his tenure. It also has key seats on the party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).
The race to succeed McCluskey started last month and the new general secretary will be in place by September. As well as Coyne, other candidates include senior union officials Steve Turner, Howard Beckett and Sharon Graham.
Jane Barlow – PAUnite leadership candidate Gerard Coyne
Coyne said that he was confident of getting the 174 branch nominations required to get on the ballot paper, but pointed out that the hurdle was much higher than Unison’s 25 and the GMB’s 50.
“That gives an indication about how determined they were to try and get me off the ballot paper, but I don’t think that’s going to work somehow,” he said.
Although the Covid pandemic makes it difficult to physically meet the union’s members, Coyne said that Zoom call technology had made it easier to get in touch with hundreds of Unite reps, many miles apart.
“I think that the union has to operate in a hybrid version of engagement with our workplace reps that uses modern technology like this. It’s created a more direct form of democracy. If and when I’m elected that is how I will carry on as general secretary because it’s meant that I’ve been able to touch the pulse of the union.”
He called on the union to embrace the technology and hold a national online hustings for the general secretary election. Although some Unite workplaces such as Rolls Royce are holding remote hustings, the format does not allow for debate or interaction between candidates.
With turnouts in union elections as low as 10%, Coyne wants Unite to do much more to promote the general secretary race and if elected has pledged to create an internal “democracy commission” to regularly engage members.
”It’s fundamental really in terms of the long term future of the union, because if we are going to be a democratic organisation, we’ve got to start increasing the participation of our members. After all, we are a £175 million annual turnover organisation, it’s something that they have a direct interest in because they are paying the wages.”
The spending of members’ money is an issue which Coyne has made a centrepiece of his campaign, with a call for an independent review of the £98m spent on the Unite hotel and conference centre complex in Birmingham.
“When you hear the estimated spend was £7m, then £35m, then £55m and finally £98m, we absolutely have to have a root and branch review to learn the lessons,” he said.
“Did you know there’s a proposal for a ‘Birmingham 2’? In principle, the [union] executive have given the go ahead for a mutli-storey car park and another hotel. My view is we are not a property developer, we’re a trade union and that’s what we should stick to.”
Hollie Adams – PA Images via Getty ImagesLen McCluskey, general secretary of Unite the union
Coyne’s plan for greater financial transparency includes a register of interests and benefits for all union staff. “I just think we’ve got to throw open the shutters and let the daylight in.”
Another area he believes money has been wasted is on legal fees for court cases, including some against the Labour party, that have little direct impact on union members.
Unite is due in court again next week as it faces demands to settle damages and lawyers’ costs to former MP Anna Turley, who won a libel action against it and Skwawkbox blogger Stephen Walker.
Coyne contrasts Unite’s record with that of unions like the GMB, which won rights for Uber drivers and Asda workers, and Unison, which challenged employment tribunal fees.
“That’s the bedrock of what trade unionism should be focusing on, on its legal activities driven from the bottom up, and not choosing to spend money on very high profile political cases. We should be actually focusing on the ones that benefit our members. Legal services should be driven by industrial need.”
He also thinks that under McCluskey the union has lost touch with its mainstream membership, not least on some issues that arose in the pandemic.
“I’ve heard from lorry drivers who are bitterly complaining that there is no toilet provision for them when they drop off their cargo. Members want the union to be campaigning on the practical things like that that help them, real nuts and bolts issues.”
Although his three rivals are undeniably more to the left of him, Coyne is also frustrated at being portrayed as a “right winger” in the general secretary race.
“I don’t recognise that parody of me being the right-wing candidate. I’ve been in the union as an employee for 28 years, I’ve been a member for 35.
“In terms of the classic ‘do you oppose strike action?’, of course I’m not opposed to our members taking an industrial dispute. Have I ever signed a sweetheart deal? No, never have. Have I ever signed a no strike deal? No. I just fight for members’ interests. Am I afraid of anybody? No, I think I’ve proved that.”
Coyne wasn’t afraid of his first boss when he was a 16-year-old with a part-time supermarket shelf stacking job at Sainsbury’s. “We had a store manager, who basically instituted a policy of when you were working on the tills you couldn’t talk to the people next to you,” he explained.
“This was before barcode scanning, you had to type it in and it was the most mind-numbing work. Not being able to talk to the person next to you made every shift drag and there was a sense of annoyance amongst a lot of my colleagues.
“So I went down to the local office of the Transport and General [union, a forerunner of Unite], grabbed a handful of forms. I started first by recruiting my mates and we recruited most of the store into the union. We raised it with the management and fairly quickly after that, that manager was moved on.”
Coyne’s activism stemmed from his deep family roots in trade unionism. His staunch socialist father was the local Fire Brigades Union brigade secretary. His maternal grandfather came out of the First World War to found his local Labour party in Birmingham. All five of his brothers have been involved in the labour movement.
Like his nearest rival in the general secretary race, his trade unionism is also informed by his love of football. Whereas Steve Turner supports Millwall, Coyne is a lifelong fan of West Bromwich Albion, another team that has for years battled against the odds and is facing relegation from the top flight.
“The truth is that I’ve always supported an underdog team,” he said, with a smile. “We’re certainly doing better than Millwall, whether we manage to stay in the Premier League or not.”
Jessica TaylorPALabour MP Tan Dhesi in the Commons
Labour shadow minister Tan Dhesi has been warned to “pay people what they are worth” after trying to recruit unpaid volunteers to carry out “long term” work in his office.
A job advert on Working For An MP asked for “committed” people “passionate about helping others” and who “take satisfaction from getting stuff done” to volunteer for the Slough MP for no pay.
Tasks for the role included answering the phone, opening post, updating Dhesi’s website, writing to constituents, monitoring media coverage and other basic admin.
Most are jobs which would normally be carried out by a caseworker or parliamentary assistant, positions which would attract a salary of around £30,000.
The ad was removed minutes after HuffPost UK contacted the Labour Party.
A source close to Dhesi said the advert was placed due to an administration error and the Slough MP had been unaware. It is said Dhesi’s staff have been overwhelmed with casework due to the impact of the pandemic.
Zamzam Ibrahim, vice president of the European Students’ Union, warned Dhesi that “nobody should work for free”, adding: “Unpaid labour is far too often masked as volunteering and used to exploit young people. And far too often those unpaid volunteers are given same responsibility as salaried staff.
“Everybody from staff to interns to those on temporary contracts have a right to a living wage and a full array of employment benefits such as sick pay and holiday pay.”
One Labour staff member, who asked not to be named, told HuffPost UK: “It’s a shame really that a Labour MP would try to offer what is quite clearly a proper job role under the guise of ‘volunteering’, and even worse that it’s for long term.
“I’d like to think that MPs from our party would pay people what they are worth, even more so in this current economic climate.”
A note on the ad penned by W4MP, not Dhesi’s office, warned the work was voluntary, saying: “As such, there are no set hours and responsibilities and you should be free to come and go as you wish.
“If the post demands set hours and/or has a specific job description you may be deemed to be a ‘worker’ and be covered by national minimum wage/national living wage legislation.”
The ad said the MP was “looking for committed volunteers to assist his team over the coming months, and perhaps on a longer-term basis”.
It added: “If you’ve ever wanted to volunteer your time to help people in need, to support a fantastic local community and its elected MP, or experience what it’s like to be part of an MP’s busy team, then this volunteer role might be just for you.”
But the ad underlined “this is not an internship position or a job, and should not be viewed as such”, and said: “This position is very unlikely to lead to paid employment with Tan Dhesi MP and is not suitable for anyone seeking more than a voluntary role.”
HuffPost UK has approached Dhesi for comment but he has not responded.
The Labour Party, which backs a number of campaigns for fair pay, declined to comment and it was not clear if Dhesi had received any sanction.
The party grandee told HuffPost UK’s Commons People podcast that while Labour’s local election attacks around “cronyism” and the lobbying scandal will “loosen and crumble” Tory support, it will not be enough to win nationally in 2024.
Starmer must also present a “credible and attractive alternative”, as well as showing Labour is strong enough to “tear [the Tories] inside out, strip them down, lay them bare, and see what they stand for and what they are not doing for this country”.
Mandelson told Commons People: “One thing is clear to me – it’s that Tory sleaze is not going to win the next election for Labour.
“It will loosen and crumble a lot of support for the Tories and people will reach the conclusion that they are out for themselves and that they suit themselves and they fill the pockets of their own cronies and supporters, that’s true.
“But that doesn’t mean to say that Labour’s just got to sit back and wait for the election to fall into their laps.
“That’s not how you win elections.
“So fine, make the point, but you’ve got to present a credible and attractive alternative if you want people to vote for you.”
Speaking from Hartlepool where he is campaigning for Labour ahead of the crunch May 6 by-election, Mandelson said the party had a “real fight” in the seat, where it was “completely outgunned” by the combined Tory and Brexit Party vote in 2019.
Johnson is also benefitting from a “vaccine bounce” in the polls, while voters in Hartlepool felt Labour had “lost its way over the last decade” because it was nationally “rubbish” and “fell into bad hands” locally, and that the party took the town for granted.
“Then along came Brexit which loosened the cement even more, and frankly Corbyn then was the final hammer blow for Labour in this town, and then we had the disastrous results in the election in 2019,” he said.
GLYN KIRK via Getty ImagesLabour grandee Lord Peter Mandelson
But now, he said, they feel “Labour is coming home, that there is a new broom, and they feel it nationally with Keir Starmer and I’m glad to say they feel it locally”.
“Increasingly, people are seeing Labour as a credible alternative, they do see Keir Starmer as a man of principles and of integrity.
“But they want to know a lot more about him and what he believes in and what the policies of the Labour Party will be at the next election before they are prepared to transfer their allegiance to him and the Labour Party.
Pointing out that Labour’s leadership has been “hermetically sealed” from the public due to Covid, he said that now the party has to make its case “with greater intensity, and more speed and more focus than we’ve been doing at any time in the last year”.
Asked if Starmer needs to freshen up the shadow cabinet, Mandelson said: “He’ll know what to do when the time comes and I’m not going to start giving him advice or lessons about how he should do his job.
“All I know is this – that people want Labour to make the weather.
“They want Labour to make the news.
“They want the Tories properly taken apart.
“If you fall short, if it’s a bit weak, if it’s a bit flabby, if it appears not to know how to use the media well, if it’s not doing its opposition research well and honing its attacks and creating the ammunition, and [having] people strong enough to fire that ammunition in the Tory direction, then people are going to say well, are Labour strong enough?”
Mandelson went on: “You don’t win elections by going through the motions, you don’t win elections by saying nice things about yourself.
“You’ve got to go for your opponents as well, tear them inside out, strip them down, lay them bare, and see what they stand for and what they are not doing for this country.
“And then people will look to you, and when they do look to you, you better have a credible, affordable set of modern policies for people to vote for.
“And that’s what Labour’s got to create over the next year or so.”
He added: “I want my party to win, I’m fed up of losing, I’m fed up to my back teeth of losing, I want to see my party winning again, and that’s why I’m here and that’s why I work for it.”
The former cabinet minister and Lib Dem peer Baroness Shirley Williams has died aged 90.
In an announcement on Monday, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said it was “heartbreaking for me and for our whole Liberal Democrat family”.
Williams was one of the disenchanted ex-Labour cabinet ministers who became the gang of four founders of the breakaway and short-lived Social Democratic Party (SDP).
As a Labour minister, Lady Williams, served in the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan in the 1970s rising to become education secretary.
Throughout her political career, both in the Labour Party and subsequently the SDP and then the Lib Dems, Williams was a passionate pro-European.
Davey said: “Shirley has been an inspiration to millions, a Liberal lion and a true trailblazer. I feel privileged to have known her, listened to her and worked with her. Like so many others, I will miss her terribly.
“Political life will be poorer without her intellect, her wisdom and her generosity. Shirley had a limitless empathy only too rare in politics today; she connected with people, cared about their lives and saw politics as a crucial tool to change lives for the better.
“As a young Liberal, Shirley Williams had a profound impact on me, as she did on countless others across the political spectrum. Her vision and bravery, not least in founding the SDP, continues to inspire Liberal Democrats today.
“Rest in peace, Shirley. My thoughts and prayers are with your family and your friends.”
A Labour MP has been condemned for his “upsetting” decision to praise a church with a history of anti-LGBTQ campaigning – just hours after Keir Starmer was forced to apologise for visiting it.
Stephen Timms said he applauded the “extraordinary work” of Jesus House For All The Nations church in Brent, north London.
The East Ham MP’s tweet came the same day the Labour leader said he was sorry for visiting the church over Easter and endorsing its work despite well publicised anti-LGBTQ statements made by one of its senior leaders.
The Labour Campaign for LGBT+ Rights had branded Starmer’s visit and subsequent praise for the church’s work in a video as “unacceptable”.
Starmer eventually accepted it had been a “mistake” to visit the church, which is serving as a vaccination centre. He said he was “not aware” of its views on LGBTQ rights – despite Theresa May having been called out for the same reason after she visited it in 2017.
Timms opposed same-sex marriage ahead of its introduction in 2014 because he said marriage was “ordained for the procreation of children”.
He told HuffPost UK on Wednesday he had “checked” with Jesus House, which told him it regarded “homophobia as anti-Christian”.
I applaud the extraordinary work of @jesushouseuk, and of churches and other faith groups, in supporting our communities throughout the past year
But the church’s senior pastor, Agu Irukwu, has previously spoken against same-sex marriage and equality legislation.
In 2006 he signed a letter to The Daily Telegraph condemning the then Labour government for its position that “homosexuality is equal to heterosexuality”, something Irukwu said he did not “believe”.
“The latest discrimination against Christians is the new law called the Sexual Orientation Regulations, said to combat the problem of homophobia in Britain,” the letter said.
“It alarms us that the government’s only evidence for a problem actually existing is ‘accounts in national newspapers’.”
A separate letter in The Daily Telegraph, signed by Irukwu in 2013, said “marriage is and always will be distinctively a union between a man and a woman” and argued same-sex marriage would be “devaluing” the institution.
A survey run by the church in 2015, uncovered by Yahoo News, grouped homosexuality, being bisexual or transgender in with beastiality.
Eloise Stonborough, associate director of policy and research at Stonewall, told HuffPost UK: “It’s disappointing to see politicians praising organisations which speak out against LGBT+ equality.
“This kind of acknowledgement is even more upsetting when so many faith groups welcome and support LGBT+ people of faith, and are doing crucial work to support their communities.
“Last December, over a hundred faith leaders came together from across the major religious traditions specifically to support a ban on conversion therapy.
“At a time when many LGBT+ people face huge challenges, we should all be focused on tackling prejudice and creating a world where everyone can thrive no matter who they are.”
Responding to Timms’ tweet, Labour MP Kate Osborne said: “Another day of disappointment.
“I also applaud the work of churches and faith groups who support their communities but, I do not applaud those who hide their bigotry behind their so-called religious beliefs.”
Timms told HuffPost UK: “Churches and mosques in Newham – including one of the Jesus House affiliates in East Ham – have done a superb job during the pandemic in distributing food to people who would otherwise not have had any.
“The hardship of the pandemic would have been even worse without their efforts.
“Given concerns expressed yesterday, I checked with Jesus House who told me that they don’t do anything like conversion therapy, and regard homophobia as anti-Christian.”
In an interview on Wednesday with Premier Christian News, Irukwu said the church does “not engage in any form ofconversion therapy”.
Downing Street has also defended Boris Johnson’s own recent visit to the church.
The prime minister’s press secretary Allegra Stratton said “one of the main jobs inside government over the last few weeks and months has been driving up vaccine take-up in communities that are hesitant about taking it, most notably the black community”.
“It was an incredibly important visit. Making sure every aspect of the population feels confident in and takes the vaccine is a top priority for this government.”
She added: “This is a government that is fully committed to advancing LGBT rights and championing equality.”
Jesus House and the Labour Party has been approached for comment.
Labour MPs have been told the party will vote against coronavirus vaccine passports as things stand, setting up a high stakes showdown between Boris Johnson and Tory rebels.
A briefing sent to Labour MPs from the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) office said that the current position is to oppose in a Commons vote any measures to require people to show proof of vaccination to access shops or pubs.
More than 40 Tory MPs have already signed a cross-party letter opposing the idea.
If that many rebelled in a future vote, it could be enough to join forces with Labour an other opposition parties to defeat the prime minister, if he decides to roll out the measures.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi told Times Radio that “of course we will go to parliament for a vote” if Johnson decides to proceed with passports.
The briefing confirms Labour will vote against the measures, as things stand, as the party believes they will be discriminatory.
It asks the question “how will Labour vote on vaccine and test certification”, before answering: “On the basis of what we’ve seen we would oppose domestic vaccine passports.
“Labour’s focus would be on getting the vaccine out, fixing self-isolation and contact tracing”.
But the party left the door open to backing testing certification that could, for example, allow people to attend large events after a negative Covid test.
Earlier, shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth told the BBC: “I’m not going to support a policy that, here in my Leicester constituency, if someone wants to go into Next or H&M, they have to produce a vaccination certificate on their phone, on an app.
“I think that’s discriminatory.”
A senior Labour source said: “On the basis of what we’ve seen and discussed with ministers, we oppose the government’s plans for domestic vaccine passports.
“They appear poorly thought-through, will put added burdens on business and run the risk of becoming another expensive Whitehall project that gets outsourced to friends of Tory ministers.”
On Monday, a government review said ministers believe “that there are some settings (such as essential public services, public transport and essential shops) where Covid-status certification should never be required, in order to ensure access for all”.
But it added: “Equally, Covid-status certification could potentially play a role in settings such as theatres, nightclubs, and mass events such as festivals or sports events to help manage risks where large numbers of people are brought together in close proximity.
“It is possible that Covid-status certification could also play a role in reducing social distancing requirements in other settings which people tend to visit more frequently, for example in hospitality settings.”
Andrew ParsonsPACommunities secretary Robert Jenrick
Whitehall commissioners look set to take over running parts of Liverpool City Council as a corruption probe into the town hall continues.
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick announced the proposal after a report by local government inspector Max Caller uncovered a “serious breakdown of governance” at the authority.
The report, published on Wednesday, followed five arrests, including that of elected mayor Joe Anderson on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation.
Jenrick told MPs the council was “failing to comply” with its commitment to taxpayers and inspectors had uncovered “a worrying lack of record-keeping” and the “awarding of dubious contracts”.
The minister said the report was “not a verdict” on the authority’s staff, but that evidence of an “overall atmosphere of intimidation” had been found.
Jenrick said he was writing to the council to outline an intervention package “centred on putting in place commissioners who I will appoint” to run aspects of the council for three years.
He told the Commons: “I am also proposing that the council will, under the oversight of the commissioners, prepare and implement an improvement plan.”
Outlining a “deeply concerning picture of mismanagement, breakdown of scrutiny and accountability” at the council, he said: “As a whole, the report is unequivocal – that Liverpool City Council has failed in numerous respects to comply with its best value duty.
“It concludes that the council consistently failed to meet its statutory and managerial responsibilities and that the pervasive culture appeared to be rule avoidance.
“It further concludes that changes need to be radical, delivered at pace, and there was no confidence that the council itself would be able to implement these to any sensible timescale.
“There may also be further issues of which we are not yet aware, and the report is careful not to speak to matters that might compromise the ongoing police investigation.”
Peter ByrnePAThe Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson has been suspended from the Labour Party
The council’s director of regeneration, Nick Kavanagh, was also arrested as part of the police probe into building and development contracts in the city, and this week it was confirmed he had been dismissed from his role at the authority.
In a statement to the Liverpool Echo, he said he intended to clear his name at a tribunal.
Anderson, 63, has also denied any wrongdoing.
Merseyside Police said all suspects remain under investigation but bail has not been extended.
Jenrick said a programme of “cultural change” is expected to ensure members and officers “understand their roles”, adding he hopes Liverpool City Council will “take the lead in the path to improvement”.
He said: “Given the gravity of the inspection findings, I must consider what would happen if the council fails to deliver the necessary changes at the necessary speed.
“I’m consequently proposing to direct the transfer of all executive functions associated with regeneration, highways and property management at the authority to the commissioners. These are for use should the council not satisfy the commissioners in their improvement processes.
“I hope it won’t be necessary for the commissioners to use these powers, but they must be – in my view – empowered to do so to deliver the reforms that are required.”
Jenrick said he is proposing Liverpool City Council will move to “whole council” elections from 2023, along with a proposal for a reduced number of councillors elected on single member wards.
He said he expects to receive representations in response to the report by May 24 and the forthcoming elections will proceed as planned in May.
Responding to Jenrick, shadow communities secretary Steve Reed said it was wrong to characterise the move as a “Tory takeover” of Liverpool.
He told the Commons: “This report raises grave and serious concerns about decision-making in key functions of Liverpool City Council. All councils are under an obligation to meet their best-value duty to ensure value for money at all times. In these respects, Liverpool City Council has been found severely wanting. Labour, both here and our leadership at the city council, accept this report in full.
“The council will respond to (Jenrick’s) letter in detail but we support his intention to appoint commissioners, not at this stage to run the council, as he says, but to advise and support elected representatives in strengthening the council’s systems. This is a measured and appropriate approach.
“I want to reassure people in Liverpool that this does not mean Government ministers are coming in to run their city directly. This is not, as some would put it, a Tory takeover.
Liverpool has become a byword for anti-Tory sentiment – the city last had a Conservative MP 38 years ago and its last Conservative councillor lost his seat 23 years ago.
Derek Hatton, who was a member of Labour’s Militant faction and deputy mayor of the city council in the 1980s, said on Twitter: “Today could see the most outrageous and politically corrupt front to local democracy any of [us] have ever witnessed.
“Even in the ’80s Thatcher stopped short of imposing commissioners […] after she threw 47 of us out, local elections allowed 47 new Labour councillors to be then elected.”
Tom Crone, leader of the city’s Green Party group, said on Twitter: “If the government takes over Liverpool Council, that would be a disaster for the city. That we are even talking about it is a shocking indictment of this Labour administration.”
The focus of Caller’s investigation is on property management, regeneration, highways, contracts and planning at the council over the past five years.
Local elections, including a vote to elect Anderson’s successor, are due to take place in May.
For the last two years, we have consistently pointed out the need for a rupture in the existing political, economic and social arrangements in Britain. The system simply is not working for the majority, and Labour needs to be clear that we are determined to bring about root and branch change.
The strategy we have adopted under Starmer’s leadership so far has simply not worked. “Constructive opposition” in a national crisis may play well with focus groups, but it is clear that seeking to gain narrow party advantage is totally inappropriate when people are dying and the hospitals are at breaking point.
But in the real world it has embedded a Tory narrative that they’ve done as well as could be expected. This is clearly untrue. Outside of Westminster, hundreds of thousands of families have lost loved ones and millions more are in financial peril due to Tory incompetence and neoliberal ideology. Yet still they cling to a stubborn lead in the polls.
While there was much in Keir Starmer’s speech on Thursday that members across the Labour party could find agreement with, it certainly didn’t feel like something which lived up to the hype. Opposing the cut to Universal Credit, refusing to back an increase in council tax and an end to the public sector pay freeze have widespread support, but are not earth-shattering pronouncements. This was an opportunity to dive headlong into the sea of challenges we face – but it felt like we merely dipped a toe in.
Our country is at serious risk of calamitous decline, and we must show how to break through to a new dawn.
Where Brexit catalysed changes in voting patterns, occurring over decades, Covid is hastening the demise of the high street, laying bare injustices in the workforce and showing the frailties of a public service network that has been wilfully neglected. This is to say nothing of the crises of our time like climate change, demographic ageing, or automation.
Problems of this magnitude can not be met with timidity. They need a bold confident Labour Party showing another way. Although we have great faith in the British people’s abilities, the truth is our country is at serious risk of calamitous decline, and we must show how to break through to a new dawn.
Invoking the spirit of the post-war government and using Marmot as a rallying call seems appropriate; the millions of people who have suffered ill health, financial distress and loneliness must be given the promise of a better future. But this has to go beyond rhetoric. In the same way as Clement Attlee’s Labour offered the opportunity for Britain to “win the peace”, the Labour of now must offer a vision of “winning the health”.
We welcome the Labour plan to issue bonds to boost savings and fuel the post-Covid recovery, which was an innovative proposal in Starmer’s speech. But it falls short of the Marshall Plan-style scale of spending which is required to deliver the stated aim of stopping the neglect of British towns and villages in held back areas.
Billionaires have raked in profits driven by the disaster that has befallen us all. A Labour Party comfortable in its own skin would have no issue calling this out.
In outlining the new contract with the British people we must be both ambitious for our country and concrete in the steps we will take. That 70% of children in poverty are in working families shows the current settlement is bust.
As we outline a new relationship with business, workers must be at the forefront of our minds. Of course Labour should not be anti-business, but neither should it be subservient to it. The pandemic has shown the best and worst elements of British business and we should be confident in saying those who have exploited the Covid crisis for a competitive edge should play no part in setting the priorities of our country. We should also be confident in saying that the public institutions that have kept our country afloat in the last year belong in public ownership.
Over the course of the pandemic as working people have seen their finances decimated, UK billionaires have raked in profits driven by the disaster that has befallen us all. A Labour Party comfortable in its own skin would have no issue calling this out and demanding a windfall tax on the profits of disaster. This could be used to fuel the renaissance that towns in all of our constituencies desperately need.
If Labour is to win again, it must remember its roots and be comfortable in articulating the anguish of communities that turned away from it. Starmer’s speech showed an acknowledgement that the previous strategy wasn’t working. We urge the leadership to look at the monolithic challenges we face, reject the triangulation of the past, and outline a path to a country that truly is the best place in which to grow up and grow old.
Ian Lavery MP is the Labour MP for Wansbeck
Jon Trickett MP is the Labour MP for Hemsworth
Laura Smith is a Labour councillor and former MP for Crewe and Nantwich
HuffPost is part of Verizon Media. We and our partners will store and/or access information on your device through the use of cookies and similar technologies, to display personalised ads and content, for ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development.
Your personal data that may be used
Information about your device and internet connection, including your IP address
Browsing and search activity while using Verizon Media websites and apps
To enable Verizon Media and our partners to process your personal data select ‘I agree‘, or select ‘Manage settings‘ for more information and to manage your choices. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy Controls.
