Category Archives: labour party

Starmer Tells Ministers To ‘Hold Their Nerve’ Amid Labour’s Nosedive In Opinion Polls

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Keir Starmer has told ministers to “hold their nerve” even after Labour faced a nosedive in the opinion polls.

The prime minister held his first political cabinet – meaning deputy party leader Lucy Powell could attend – of the year and tried to lift their spirits following a difficult 2025.

Hours after a new YouGov poll put Labour in third place behind Reform and the Tories, Starmer insisted that the government is facing “the fight of our political lives”.

According to a readout, he said: “A Labour government renewing the country or a Reform movement that feeds on grievance, decline and division.

“They want a weaker state, they want to inject bile into our communities, they want to appease Putin. This is the fight of our political lives and one that we must relish.

“I do not underestimate the scale of the task. But I have no doubt about this team. Governments do not lose because polls go down. They lose when they lose belief or nerve. We will do neither.”

Powell also addressed the meeting, thanking ministers for “embracing me as deputy leader” and saying she relished “helping to tell the story of whose side we are on”.

Powell served as Starmer’s Commons leader before she was booted out of the job in a September reshuffle.

During the regular cabinet meeting, the prime minister also told ministers that the cost of living will “remain our focus” regardless of what happens around the world.

He said the government would be judged at the next general election on whether the public “feel better off”, adding: “That will require hard work, focus and determination from all of us. Together, as a team, we will rise to that challenge and deliver for the whole country.”

It comes after Starmer tried to scare off potential rivals who might consider challenging his leadership over the weekend.

He told BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg ousting him would send the country into “chaos”, comparable to the last Tory government.

He said: “Nobody wants to go back to that. It’s not in our national interest.”

He also claimed the upcoming May elections are not a “referendum” on his leadership.

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Trevor Phillips Rips Into Labour’s Response To Trump’s Venezuela Action

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Sky presenter Trevor Phillips has torn into Labour’s lacklustre response to Donald Trump’s military action in Venezuela.

The US seized Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and indicted him on narco-terrorism conspiracy on Saturday.

Trump has declared that the States will “run” Venezuela until there can be a safe transition of power – and insisted the US will be “very strongly involved” in the country’s oil industry.

Keir Starmer has already refused to describe Trump’s moves as a breach of international law, insisting the government “sheds no tears” for the end of Maduro’s autocracy.

But concerns about what this means for the world order remain.

On Sky News, Phillips told chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones that Trump’s decision to seize Venezuela sounds rather like “colonialism”.

He added: “Are we now in favour of colonialism?”

“We’re not in favour of colonialism,” Jones replied, adding: “We’re not entirely clear yet what president Trump meant by those comments yesterday.”

Phillips said: “The president’s been pretty clear: he said we are going to run Venezuela. We will decide when we can stop running Venezuela and pass on power in a ‘judicious’ way. It’s pretty clear.

“We must have a view on that, surely.”

Jones said the UK does not know the “details” of what is happening yet, adding: “It would be wrong for government ministers to try to make assumptions or to comment on hypotheticals about the future.”

He continued: “We should understand what is happening before we comment, that’s what the public would expect a grown-up professional government to do.”

Phillips said: “I don’t think so. I think the public would expect a grown up government to be consistent.”

He claimed that if it had been any country other than the US – like Russia – the government would have condemned it.

“Is it OK for allies to march in and snatch someone every time they think they’ve done something naughty?” The presenter asked.

Jones said: “The UK respects international law and the rules-based order. We are an advocate for it, we conduct ourselves on that basis, and we expect other countries to do so as well. There’s no question about that.

“What happened in Venezula has happened. We now need to move as quickly as possible.”

Jones also insisted that the UK has not been involved with the US’s attacks on Venezuela at all, but that Britain does support a peaceful transition of power.

Asked about whether it was a breach of international law, Jones said: “It’s for the Americans to set out the legal basis for their operation, not Nato, not ours in any way, I don’t think the Americans have done that yet, but I’m sure they will do in due course.”

Phillips pointed out that the government made a judgement that Putins’ invasion of Ukraine was unlawful, but Jones replied: “It’s not for me or any opposition politician to make a judgement on that.”

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Starmer Urged To Do More To Tackle Reform: ‘We Are At A Very Dangerous Moment’

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Keir Starmer needs a stronger plan to defeat the “existential threat” from populism, a former Labour strategist has warned.

Chris Powell, the advertising strategist who worked on Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide victory and brother to Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell, said there was a “new and terrifying” problem facing the UK.

Writing for the Guardian, he said Nigel Farage’s Reform UK could represent a danger to democracy and national institutions.

He compared the up and coming right-wing party to populist parties seen around the world which have eroded political systems once they are in power.

Powell said: “Here in the UK, where is the urgently needed counter plan on a huge scale, to thwart and head off such an existential threat? It is simply not in place, nor does it appear to be even at the planning stage.

“We are at a very dangerous moment. We simply cannot afford to allow Reform UK to have a free run, and become established and entrenched as a credible potential government in the minds of disenchanted voters.”

He warned the longer Reform remain “unchallenged”, the more “unthreatening and risk-free” they appear to voters.

“Just hoping that Reform and Farage implode, or that the rightwing vote will somehow fracture, is potentially suicidal for our freedom and democracy,” Powell said.

The strategist acknowledged that Labour has started to take “small steps” to counter Reform, but called for them to go further.

He pointed to the “fundamental reset” New Labour planned in September 1995, when they were ahead in the polls.

He urged Starmer to focus on “fighting fire with fire on messaging, call out lies and expose Farage’s simplistic solutions”.

Urging a “top-to-bottom media and communications overhaul”, he said Starmer needs to show he is on voters’ side and develop a digital strategy to disrupt the populist narrative online.

Since Reform UK took the lead in the opinion polls, Starmer has acknowledged the party as the government’s main opposition – despite having just five MPs.

The prime minister has tried to take apart their policies on various occasions, memorably saying last month that a Reform government would “tear Britain apart”.

Ministers have also been more outspoken about the negative consequences of Brexit, which Eurosceptic Farage spent decades campaigning for.

However, YouGov’s latest polling shows Reform has consistently been in the lead since April and finished 2025 on 26%, while Labour and the Tories trailed on 19%.

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Why Both The Tories And Labour Are Facing Backlash Over A Freed Egyptian Activist

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Keir Starmer has just welcomed the news that an activist had been released from Egypt and returned to the UK after years of imprisonment.

But, no sooner had the prime minister confirmed the announcement than the Tories were pointing out Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s shocking old social media posts and attacking the government.

Then, to add a further twist, critics quickly noted that the Conservatives had been campaigning themselves to get the activist released when they were in power.

As the argument hots up online over who is in the wrong, here’s what you need to know.

Who is Alaa Abd El-Fattah?

A British-Egyptian dual national who was detained in Egypt in September 2019, he was sentenced to five years behind bars in December 2021 having been accused of spreading fake news.

However, the UN branded his imprisonment a breach of international law.

He finally returned to the UK on December 26, Boxing Day.

Starmer wrote on X: “I’m delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones, who must be feeling profound relief.

“I want to pay tribute to Alaa’s family, and to all those that have worked and campaigned for this moment.

“Alaa’s case has been a top priority for my government since we came to office. I’m grateful to President Sisi for his decision to grant the pardon.”

What happened to his social media?

Abd El-Fattah’s release sparked an online deep dive into the activist’s old posts.

In some, dating back to 2010, his account appears to call for violence towards “Zionists” and the police.

To make matters worse for the government, these posts have been unearthed before.

In 2014, the group nominating the activist for the European parliament’s Sakharov prize even decided to withdraw their support for Abd El-Fattah over his anti-Israel posts.

The activist later claimed his online posts had been taken out of context and were written at a time of an Israeli offensive in Gaza.

What do the Tories have to do with this?

The Conservatives also pushed to get Abd El-Fattah released when they were in government and granted him citizenship.

Even so, shadow justice secretary and Tory MP Robert Jenrick has now called for him to be stripped of that citizenship and deported.

He condemned the PM for welcoming Abd El-Fattah as a “serious error of judgement” in a public letter to Starmer.

How has it been received?

Successive governments are now in the spotlight over this incident.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it had already flagged its worries with the government, adding: “The social media history that has emerged from Alaa Abd el-Fattah is of profound concern. His previous extremist and violent rhetoric aimed at ‘Zionists’ and white people in general is threatening to British Jews and the wider public.

“The cross-party campaign for such a person, and the warm welcome issued by the government, demonstrate a broken system with an astonishing lack of due diligence by the authorities.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also wrote on social media: “Whilst Robert Jenrick is right to criticise Starmer … we must not forget that it was the Tory government who started this … Labour are only doing the same as the Tories, just worse.”

Tory MP Alicia Kearns said: “I trusted the process to give Alaa citizenship, and then supported the campaign for his release. I feel deeply let down, and frankly betrayed, having lent my support to his cause, which I now regret.

“It is wholly improper for British citizens to be detained without due process by foreign states; however Alaa must unequivocally apologise and make clear he now wholly rejects the hatred and antisemitism he expressed, which is so wholly incompatible with British values.”

How has the government responded?

It’s understood that Starmer was not aware of Abd El-Fattah’s posts when he welcomed him back to the UK – but No.10 has made it clear it does not support his views.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Mr el-Fattah is a British citizen. It has been a longstanding priority under successive governments to work for his release from detention, and to see him reunited with his family in the UK. The government condemns Mr el-Fattah’s historic tweets and considers them to be abhorrent.”

However, there’s a risk this issue could continue hanging over the government well into the new year, as opponents call for greater action.

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A Third Of Labour Voters Think Keir Starmer Should Step Down, Poll Finds

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One in three Labour voters say Keir Starmer should step down as prime minister, according to a new poll.

A JL Partners survey, commissioned by the Independent, asked Labour voters if they thought the party had a better chance of winning the next general election if they replaced Starmer – 38% of the 1,562 adults questioned said yes.

A further 39% said getting rid of Starmer would not impact the party’s hopes at the next election, while just 13% said Labour would do worse without the prime minister at the helm and 10% did not offer an opinion.

The poll found that Labour voters have even less faith in Starmer than the general public, as only half of the wider electorate think he should step down.

James Johnson of JL Partners told the Independent: “The results underline the degree to which all voters have lost faith in Keir Starmer. What will worry Downing St most is the belief that Labour would do better under a new leader is strongest among Labour supporters themselves.”

The survey asked which Labour figure voters would like to succeed Starmer.

Manchester mayor and former cabinet minister Andy Burnham came out on top with 19% of Labour voters backing him, even though he is not an MP and therefore not eligible to be party leader.

Former deputy PM Angela Rayner came out in second place with 10% of the vote, while deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell was not far behind on 9%.

Health secretary Wes Streeting and Energy secretary Ed Miliband were both on 6% while home secretary Shabana Mahmood was on 4%.

The education secretary Bridget Phillipson was put on 3% and chief secretary to the PM Darren Jones was on 2%.

The poll also ranked all seven of Labour’s prime ministers in history – and Starmer came out in last place.

The survey comes after the Labour campaign group Labour Together secretly conducted a poll on Starmer’s popularity among its members.

The findings are a real blow to the prime minister, just 18 months on from a landslide victory.

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Unexpected Boost For Starmer As Tory Peer Admits He Would Vote Labour

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A Conservative peer has offered up a surprise boost for Keir Starmer as he would still vote for Labour despite the government’s difficult time in office.

Lord Rose, the chairman of Asda, told LBC that there is widespread frustration with Labour – but suggested that’s still better than the alternatives.

“We’re in a situation now where I think many people in this country would be disappointed with the government they have elected,” Rose told LBC.

“We’ve now got a situation where I don’t believe the Conservatives can make a recovery in time for the next election.

“So let’s assume it’s the election after that.

“You are now going to find yourself in a very difficult situation in 2027, ’28, ’29, where if Labour don’t start delivering some [economic] growth, the Conservatives haven’t recovered in time, and you’ve got the other option – what are you going to vote for?

“Are you going to vote for Reform or are you going to vote for a second government?”

He said: “I would vote for another Labour government, but I would want some change in the meantime.”

Asked why he would vote for another round of Labour, he said: “It’s a question of degrees of pain, isn’t it?

“If I can’t have a resurgent Conservative Party, and they’ve got a lot of work to do to make themselves re-electable – or I’ve got the alternative, which, frankly, is supping with the devil.”

Asked what Kemi Badenoch has to do to secure the Tory peer’s vote again, he said: “She’s got to be doing more of what she’s begun now, I think, but I just think, it does, in all these things, require time, and I’m not sure time is on their side.”

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‘Why would you vote Labour?’
‘It’s a question of degrees of pain.’

Conservative peer Lord Rose explains why he would vote against his party in future elections. pic.twitter.com/yKdhbM6eIY

— LBC (@LBC) December 25, 2025

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‘Why would you vote Labour?’
‘It’s a question of degrees of pain.’

Conservative peer Lord Rose explains why he would vote against his party in future elections. pic.twitter.com/yKdhbM6eIY

— LBC (@LBC) December 25, 2025

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