Starmer told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme he did not need to wait for the report to conclude that Johnson broke the rules…reports Asian Lite News
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of breaking Covid laws with parties held in Downing Street during lockdown, the BBC reported.
The Labour leader said the UK prime minister had “lied” about “industrial scale partying” in No 10.
Six Tory MPs have now called on the Prime Minister to resign over gatherings held during restrictions.
But Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden said the Prime Minister would take action over the “underlying culture” in Downing Street, the report said.
Dowden told the BBC the Prime Minister was “committed” to doing this when he responds to an official inquiry on events in government buildings.
The internal investigation, led by senior civil servant Sue Gray, is expected to be published as soon as next week
However, Starmer told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme he did not need to wait for the report to conclude that Johnson broke the rules.
“The facts speak for themselves, and the country has made up its mind,” he said, adding it was “blindingly obvious what’s happened”.
“I think he broke the law, I think he’s as good as admitted that he broke the law,” he added, the report said.
Pressure on Johnson has been growing since he admitted he attended a gathering in the Downing Street garden on 20 May 2020, during the first Covid lockdown.
As many as 100 people were invited to “socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden” in an email on behalf of the prime minister’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, the report said.
On Wednesday, Johnson told MPs he had “believed implicitly” it was a work event, but admitted: “With hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside”.
However, Starmer told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme he did not need to wait for the report to conclude that Johnson broke the rules…reports Asian Lite News
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of breaking Covid laws with parties held in Downing Street during lockdown, the BBC reported.
The Labour leader said the UK prime minister had “lied” about “industrial-scale partying” in No 10.
Six Tory MPs have now called on the Prime Minister to resign over gatherings held during restrictions.
But Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden said the Prime Minister would take action over the “underlying culture” in Downing Street, the report said.
Dowden told the BBC the Prime Minister was “committed” to doing this when he responds to an official inquiry on events in government buildings.
The internal investigation, led by senior civil servant Sue Gray, is expected to be published as soon as next week
However, Starmer told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme he did not need to wait for the report to conclude that Johnson broke the rules.
“The facts speak for themselves, and the country has made up its mind,” he said, adding it was “blindingly obvious what’s happened”.
“I think he broke the law, I think he’s as good as admitted that he broke the law,” he added, the report said.
Pressure on Johnson has been growing since he admitted he attended a gathering in the Downing Street garden on 20 May 2020, during the first Covid lockdown.
As many as 100 people were invited to “socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden” in an email on behalf of the prime minister’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, the report said.
On Wednesday, Johnson told MPs he had “believed implicitly” it was a work event, but admitted: “With hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside”.
Throughout the 89-minute speech at the Labour Party conference, Sir Keir Starmer was heckled repeatedly by angry Labour activists waving red cards and interrupting speech, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday said his party will never again go into an election without a “serious plan for government.”
In a first speech addressing full Labour conference since becoming party leader 17 months ago, Sir Keir said the country faced a “big moment” that “demands leadership” – and as prime minister he would provide it, according to a BBC report.
Sir Keir set out new policies on mental health, education and housing, but it was also a highly personal speech about his own background and values.
In an 89-minute speech, the Labour leader got a standing ovation, but was heckled by some left-wingers.
Sir Keir told those barracking him in the Brighton Centre that he was about “changing lives” not “shouting slogans”, to cheers from other delegates.
With the party having lost four general elections in a row, the last one by the biggest margin since the 1930s, Sir Keir attempted to distance himself from the policies of ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn.
While he did not mention his more left-wing predecessor by name, he said: “We will never under my leadership go into an election with a manifesto that is not a serious plan for government.”
“It will not take another election defeat for the Labour party to become an alternative government in which you can trust. That’s why it has been so important to get our own house in order this week and we have done that,” he said.
After a week dominated by rows with the left, Sir Keir urged activists to come together to beat the Conservatives, at a time when energy bills are rising, petrol supplies are running short and the economy is recovering from the pandemic.
He said it will be Labour’s national mission over the next decade, “to fit out every home that needs it, to make sure it is warm, well-insulated and costs less to heat and we will create thousands of jobs in the process.”
“I can also pledge that we will also introduce a Clean Air Act and everything we do in government will have to meet a “net zero” test to ensure that the prosperity we enjoy does not come at the cost of the climate,” he said.
Sir Keir described his parents as “the two rocks of my life”, saying his father, a toolmaker, had given him a “deep respect for the dignity of work”, the BBC reported.
He contrasted his life with that of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whom he described as a “trickster”, a “trivial man” and a “showman with nothing left to show.”
“It’s easy to comfort yourself that your opponents are bad people. But I don’t think Boris Johnson is a bad man. I think he is a trivial man. I think he’s a showman with nothing left to show. I think he’s a trickster who has performed his one trick,” he said.
Sir Keir slammed Johnson’s address to the United Nations last week on “clearing up the mess.”
He said: “Let me quote what the Prime Minister said to the United Nations last week: “We believe that someone else will clear up the mess we make because that is what someone else has always done”.
He told Johnson to “either get a grip or get out of the way and let us clear up this mess.”
Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer speaks after Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Budget speech. (UK Parliament_Jessica Taylor)
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will set out his principles and urge his party to show more discipline to beat the ruling Conservatives, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will promise to get Labour “back in business” when he delivers his first speech as leader to the party’s full conference, media reported.
Urging activists to unite to win the next election, he will launch an attack on Boris Johnson over his handling of the pandemic and the fuel crisis, the BBC reported.
Sir Keir will also pledge to train thousands of teachers and cut waiting times for mental health services.
Meanwhile, the issues between the leadership and left-wingers have overshadowed the conference. They have clashed over the nationalisation of energy industries, leadership election rules and the level of the minimum wage, it was reported.
The Labour leader is under pressure to unite his party and set out a vision that appeals to voters that have turned away from Labour, it was reported.
It will be the first time he has addressed a full conference since becoming leader last April, because last year’s event was held online due to Covid.
Motion against AUKUS
Labour Party has also passed an emergency motion that described the new security pact among the US, the UK and Australia, known as AUKUS, as a “dangerous move that will undermine world peace”.
During the party’s annual conference held on Monday, delegates passed the emergency motion by 70.35 per cent to 29.65 per cent.
“AUKUS is starting a new nuclear arms race and cold war. We must keep speaking out against it,” said former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Twitter on Monday.
The AUKUS pact, announced earlier this month, has triggered widespread concerns and criticism.
The three countries announced that the first initiative under AUKUS is to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet to Australia.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a global nuclear watchdog, has voiced concern amid international worries about the proliferation of nuclear materials and technologies in response to the trilateral deal.
“The IAEA will engage with them (Australia, the US and Britain) on this matter in line with its statutory mandate, and in accordance with their respective safeguards agreements with the Agency,” it said in a recent statement.
Minimum wage row
Sir Keir Starmer faced a further row with party’s left wing after the party conference voted on proposals to raise the minimum wage to £15 an hour.
The Labour leadership had earlier said it will not encourage party members to back or reject the motion.
But, shadow cabinet member Andy McDonald on Monday quit Labour’s front bench with a massive attack against Sir Keir Starmer. McDonald said Sir Keir had ordered him to oppose the rise and calling his position “untenable”.
Meanwhile, leading left-wingers have accused Sir Keir of abandoning party principles. However, the Labour leader has said his focus was on winning the next general election.
Arguments between the left, including supporters of former leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour members loyal to the present leader have dominated the conference in Brighton.
Now, the Unite union is putting the motion calling for the minimum wage to increase to £15 to a vote on Tuesday. The package of measures also include demands for an end to zero-hour contracts and calls for a “better work-life balance”.
Labour’s existing policy is that the minimum wage should be “at least” £10 per hour.
According to BBC, raising the minimum wage was not one of the 10 pledges Sir Keir made when running for the Labour leadership last year, but he supported a campaign in 2019 – before he was leader – for McDonald’s to improve their workers’ pay and conditions.
But, in a scathing resignation letter, Mr McDonald claimed the leader’s office had instructed him go to a meeting at the party conference and “argue against a national minimum wage of £15 an hour and against statutory sick pay at the living wage”, the BBC reported.
In his resignation letter – published in the middle of Labour’s party conference in Brighton – the MP said his party leader had made Labour “more divided than ever”.
Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer speaks after Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Budget speech. (UK Parliament_Jessica Taylor)
The party suffered a series of setbacks in England, including losing overall control of councils including Durham, Sheffield and Plymouth…reports Asian Lite News.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has sacked his shadow chancellor in an expected reshuffle of the frontbench team after party’s poor performance in the local elections last week.
Anneliese Dodds will now become the Labour Party’s chair – replacing deputy leader Angela Rayner, whom Sir Keir fired from the role on Saturday, the BBC reported.
Rayner will instead replace Rachel Reeves in shadowing Michael Gove at the Cabinet Office, as Ms Reeves is promoted to the shadow chancellor role, it was reported.
The Labour leader chaired a meeting of the shadow cabinet on Monday.
The local elections held on Thursday, including council and mayoral elections in England, were Labour’s first major test since its crushing defeat at the 2019 general election. It was also a test for Sir Keir Starmer since he took the party leadership last year.
The party suffered a series of setbacks in England, including losing overall control of councils including Durham, Sheffield and Plymouth. The Conservatives also picked up control of several councils, including Nottinghamshire and Basildon, as well as winning Harlow from Labour.
Earlier, Keir Starmer said he was “bitterly disappointed” with the result, and “taking full responsibility.” He said, “I will take full responsibility for fixing things.”
The result is a boost for Prime Minister Boris Johnson despite a rocky few months for the premier, with the country’s successful vaccine campaign appearing to be a key factor.
The win will make no difference to Johnson’s influence in the British parliament, however, as his party already holds a majority.
On Friday, the prime minister had travelled to Hartlepool to celebrate his party’s win, hailing the backing of “the fantastic people of the north-east” and saying it gave his government a renewed mandate, the Guardian reported.
The by-election was held on Thursday, the same day as local and mayoral elections across England, and votes for the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments.
