Streeting’s resignation speech – snap verdict
In many respects that was a very good speech – inspiring, emotional, well crafted. Many politicians have delivered speeches about how the generational contract has been broken, but few of them have been able to round it off with a line as good as the (Kennedy-inspired) “so the question isn’t whether young people would fight for their country, but when their country is going to fight for them”. (See 3.13pm.) Wes Streeting’s payoff line was terrific too. (See 3.24pm.) On the final day of a party conference, this would have been ideal.
And that’s what gives the game away. This felt like a speech that had been repurposed. It is unlikely that Streeting was drafting it for the Labour conference, but it sounded like a speech orginally written to be delivered at the opening of a leadership campaign – like the one that Streeting notable did not launch when he resigned from the government last week.
I’m the first to agree that you should never let good copy go to waste, but what we ended up with was a speech purportedly linked to Streeting’s resignation from cabinet that in fact told us almost nothing about why Streeting decided to go.
He said that he thinks Labour has been losing the battle against Reform UK (see 2.36pm), that he thinks it has been “treading water” (see 3.19pm) and that it is missing the chance to do “big things” and to deliver “real change” (see 3.24pm).
Apart from those assertions, there was nothing in the speech that Keir Starmer would not fully support. Much of the speech was just a celebration of patriotism, and Starmer would have been happy to deliver these passages word for word.
In his resignation letter last week, Streeting gave a fuller account of his reasons for quitting cabinet. He criticised Starmer’s leadership failings, and suggested these played a big role in Labour doing so badly in the local elections. He accused Starmer of offering “drift” and declared that it would be dishonourable staying in cabinet having decided he no longer had confidence in the PM.
But the letter did not clarify whether Streeting believes the main problem with Starmer is a presentational one (his communication skills), or whether it is to do with his policy agenda. And if Streeting does believe it’s Starmer’s policies that are wrong, what else is he proposing?
If he does have answers to that, he certainly did not reveal them today.
Key events
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Afternoon summary
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Swinney appoints new cabinet for Scottish government, with Jenny Gilruth as deputy FM and majority women
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Three-quarters of Labour members want UK to at least rejoin EU single market or customs union, poll suggests
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Reform UK advertises for vetting officer to help ensure ‘highest standards’ amongst candidates
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Streeting’s resignation speech – snap verdict
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Streeting ends resignation speech saying Labour must deliver ‘real change’
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Streeting suggests Labour has been ‘treading water’, and says it must show Britain can still do ‘big things’
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Streeting says AI is particular threat to job prospects for young people
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Streeting says young people have been let down by politicians
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Streeting says he believes young people would be willing to fight for their country
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Streeting criticises nationalism of SNP and Plaid Cymru, as well as English nationalism of Reform UK
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Streeting says for too long patriotism has been ‘left to loudest voices and narrowest arguments’
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Streeting says he resigned because Labour ‘in fight of our lives against nationalism’, and it’s currently losing
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Wes Streeting starts resignation speech saying he has left NHS ‘on road to recovery’
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Ukraine’s sanctions chief deletes social media post criticising UK’s new policy
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Trade minister Chris Bryant says it’s his fault sanctions announcement originally presented as rules being relaxed
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Trade minister says no existing sanctions on Russia being lifted, and sanctions policy ‘as tough as any in world’
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeking clarification from No 10 about sanctions package for Russia, his office says
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PMQs – snap verdict
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Starmer insists existing oil sanctions on Russia remain in place, and new, tougher measures just involve ‘phase-in’ exemptions
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Starmer says planned fuel duty rise for September to be scrapped, and hauliers to get 12-month road tax holiday
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Starmer facing Badenoch at PMQs
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Minister to respond to urgent question on some sanctions on Russian oil being lifted
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John Swinney sworn in as first minister of Scotland
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Minister rules out mandatory price caps on supermarket food items – but does not deny voluntary measures being discussed
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‘Idiotic, dangerous and will never work’ – Stuart Rose, former M&S chair, blasts voluntary price caps proposal
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Rachel Reeves to protect ‘critical’ clean energy projects from legal challenges
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Minister defends relaxing some sanctions on Russian oil, saying ‘time-limited’ move will help family finances
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Russian oil ‘not solution to cost of living pressures’, say Tories
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Ed Davey reserves judgment on government plan to relax some sanctions on Russian oil
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Britain’s second most senior diplomat in Washington abruptly leaves post
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Starmer to face Commons grilling at PMQs as Streeting plans resignation speech
Afternoon summary
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Chris Bryant, the trade minister, has told MPs that new sanctions imposed on Russia and its oil sales are tougher than what was in place before and that he is to blame for initial media reports wrongly suggesting some sanctions were being relaxed. (See 1.45pm.)
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
With Andy Burnham as leader, Labour would be three points ahead of Reform UK in general election voting intention, not seven points behind as they are now, a poll for More in Common suggests.
Swinney appoints new cabinet for Scottish government, with Jenny Gilruth as deputy FM and majority women
Libby Brooks
Libby Brooks is the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent.
John Swinney has announced his new cabinet this afternoon, including the appointment of Jenny Gilruth as his deputy first minister, a former education secretary with a track record of taking tough decisions who will appeal to the more progressive wing of SNP members.
Gilruth will also take on the role of cabinet secretary for finance and local government, the closest position to that of chancellor at UK government level.
The streamlined cabinet, which faces serious and immediate spending challenges, is down from 12 to nine members, and suggests a focus on reining in public spending with the promotion of Ivan McKee to the position of cabinet secretary for public service reform, a new cabinet role.
McKee, considered one of the most economically literate of senior SNP figures, was a prominent supporter of Kate Forbes’s leadership bid in 2023, when she was narrowly defeated by Humza Yousaf. His appointment signals that a more business-friendly element continues to have a voice in cabinet.
Before the election, economists with the Fraser of Allander Institute, at the University of Strathclyde, warned that party manifestos failed to address the true scale of the “reckoning” now facing ministers because the last SNP administration consistently spent more money than it received from its core sources of funding. And the Scottish government itself has estimated it faces a £5bn gulf between its spending commitments and income by the end of this decade.
Swinney also appointed Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s most recent Westminster leader who is known to have leadership ambitions, as cabinet secretary for economy, tourism and transport.
Swinney, whose cabinet is majority women, said:
As a leaner, more agile government, our full focus will be on delivering on the things that matter most to the people of Scotland, including supporting people with the cost of living crisis, ensuring easier access to the NHS and delivering a fresh start with independence.
Three-quarters of Labour members want UK to at least rejoin EU single market or customs union, poll suggests
YouGov has released more polling on the views of Labour party members. Two findings are particularly interesting.
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Three-quarters of Labour members want the UK to at the very least rejoin the single market or the customs union (33%) or fully rejoin the EU (40%), the poll suggests.
Reform UK advertises for vetting officer to help ensure ‘highest standards’ amongst candidates
Ben Quinn
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
Reform UK is advertising for a “meticulous and highly organised vetting officer” after a period in which there has been no-let up in the controversies over the backgrounds of its candidates.
The advert is one of no less than 22 roles being advertised for by Reform, which was the biggest-funded party in Britain last year.
Last year the Guardian revealed that a Reform general election candidate who said Hitler was “brilliant” at inspiring people and described Bashar al-Assad as “gentle by nature” was in charge of its vetting process.
The advert for the vetting officer to join Reform’s campaigns and training team comes as Robert Kenyon, the party’s candidate in the Makerfield byelection, faced immediate scrutiny of his social media activity.
Deleted posts on his X account – which as suspended before he was unveiled as the candidate – show he appeared to cast doubt on the efficacy of a vaccine, interacted with a Dutch far-right influencer and praised Donald Trump.
A string of candidates in the recent elections in England, Wales and Scotland were also identified as having posted racist and other offensive comments on social media accounts, in some cases leading to their resignation.
The advert for a vetting officer informs would-be applicants:
In this vital role, you will carry out background checks, social media audits, and reputational risk assessments on prospective candidates standing for election under the Reform UK banner.
You’ll play a key role in safeguarding the party’s reputation and ensuring we uphold the highest standards across our candidate pool, directly supporting the delivery of successful election campaigns across the UK.
As Reform moves to build on its election results, it is also recruiting 13 ‘creative’ roles including social media managers and graphic designers in Wales, Scotland and at its head office in London. Other roles being recruited for include a new policy adviser who will be based at the party’s Westminster headquarters.
Jakub Krupa
Jakub Krupa writes the Guardian’s Europe live blog.
At a briefing earlier, the European Commission was asked about the US and UK decisions to relax strict sanctions on Russian crude oil as fuel prices rise.
The commission was pointedly asked if their decisions do not undermine the broader approach to put as much pressure on the Russian economy as possible.
The chief spokerperson, Paula Pinho, said:
We will not comment on what other countries are doing on sanctions regarding Russia.
We remain committed to our sanctions on imports of Russian oil and gas, and we need to reiterate the call for Russians not to be benefiting from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. It’s too ironic.
Streeting’s resignation speech – snap verdict
In many respects that was a very good speech – inspiring, emotional, well crafted. Many politicians have delivered speeches about how the generational contract has been broken, but few of them have been able to round it off with a line as good as the (Kennedy-inspired) “so the question isn’t whether young people would fight for their country, but when their country is going to fight for them”. (See 3.13pm.) Wes Streeting’s payoff line was terrific too. (See 3.24pm.) On the final day of a party conference, this would have been ideal.
And that’s what gives the game away. This felt like a speech that had been repurposed. It is unlikely that Streeting was drafting it for the Labour conference, but it sounded like a speech orginally written to be delivered at the opening of a leadership campaign – like the one that Streeting notable did not launch when he resigned from the government last week.
I’m the first to agree that you should never let good copy go to waste, but what we ended up with was a speech purportedly linked to Streeting’s resignation from cabinet that in fact told us almost nothing about why Streeting decided to go.
He said that he thinks Labour has been losing the battle against Reform UK (see 2.36pm), that he thinks it has been “treading water” (see 3.19pm) and that it is missing the chance to do “big things” and to deliver “real change” (see 3.24pm).
Apart from those assertions, there was nothing in the speech that Keir Starmer would not fully support. Much of the speech was just a celebration of patriotism, and Starmer would have been happy to deliver these passages word for word.
In his resignation letter last week, Streeting gave a fuller account of his reasons for quitting cabinet. He criticised Starmer’s leadership failings, and suggested these played a big role in Labour doing so badly in the local elections. He accused Starmer of offering “drift” and declared that it would be dishonourable staying in cabinet having decided he no longer had confidence in the PM.
But the letter did not clarify whether Streeting believes the main problem with Starmer is a presentational one (his communication skills), or whether it is to do with his policy agenda. And if Streeting does believe it’s Starmer’s policies that are wrong, what else is he proposing?
If he does have answers to that, he certainly did not reveal them today.
Streeting ends resignation speech saying Labour must deliver ‘real change’
Streeting ended his speech quoting Deborah James, the “bowelbabe” bowel cancer campaigner.
Referring to his own experience of cancer, Streeting said:
Another member of the cancer club, the late great bowelbabe Dame Deborah James, famously said, ‘Take risks, love deeply, have no regrets, and always, always have rebellious hope.’
It is with that in mind, and with the belief that we can and must do better, with deep love for my party and my country, with no regrets and with rebellious hope, that I have left the government.
The Labour party was elected to deliver real change. We still can.
Streeting suggests Labour has been ‘treading water’, and says it must show Britain can still do ‘big things’
Streeting said Labour had no time to waste.
Never waste a minute. That’s been my mantra in government, and it’s why I don’t believe our party has time to waste in government treading water.
Because the thing about emergencies is that they make the impossible possible.
Look back at the crises we’ve confronted. We couldn’t vaccinate against the deadly virus until we could. We couldn’t nationalise the banking system until we could. We couldn’t reorient our entire manufacturing base towards building aircraft until we could. We couldn’t build hundreds of thousands of homes fit for heroes until we could.
In times of greatest peril our country has been capable of doing big things. We still can.
Britain used to punch above its weight in the world. We still can.
Each generation needs to provide a better future for the next. We still can.
Streeting said spreading opportunity should be Labour’s mission.
This is the calling of the Labour party, brought into existence to champion the interests of the working man and woman, the many, not just the privileged few.
It gave this kid from a council estate in Stepney in east London the chance to realise my potential, to go to a great university and spend my career tackling the injustices that hold other kids from backgrounds like mine back. T
The greatest tragedy of Britain today is that the next generation, for the first time in our modern history, faces worse prospects than the last.
So the question isn’t whether young people would fight for their country, but when their country is going to fight for them.
Streeting said this was the generational challenge facing Labour.
Streeting says AI is particular threat to job prospects for young people
Streeting says job security is a particular threat for the young.
For generations, people believe there was a ladder of advancement, an entry level job, skills acquired over time, promotion, security, progress.
Now, many young people fear that artificial intelligence may remove the lower rungs of that ladder altogether.
They ask what skills will still matter? Will there still be roots into stable, middle-class lives for kids from working-class families like mine?