Labour’s leadership tried to make Angela Rayner “carry the can” by firing her as party chairman and elections co-ordinator in the wake of a poor performance in the local elections, according to veteran MP Diane Abbott.
The former home secretary said there is a “problem with strategy” within the party as she urged unity from Sir Keir Starmer, who has made changes to his top team amid criticism after the dismal results.
Rachel Reeves has been promoted to shadow chancellor as part of the Labour leader’s reshuffle, with former incumbent Anneliese Dodds relegated to party chairman.
Deputy leader Ms Rayner, fired as party chairman and elections co-ordinator on Saturday following Labour’s shock defeat in the Hartlepool by-election, takes Ms Reeves’ former post of shadow chancellor to the Duchy of Lancaster.
SIR KEIR STARMER was accused today of doubling down on a failed strategy with his shadow cabinet reshuffle after a disastrous election campaign for Labour last week.
Left group Momentum criticised the replacement of Anneliese Dodds as shadow chancellor with rightwinger Rachel Reeves, who is notorious for pledging to be “tougher than the Tories” on benefits at the height of work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith’s attacks on the jobless and disabled in 2013.
And former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said the Labour leader was trying to make his deputy, Angela Rayner, carry the can by firing her as party chair.
Labour’s leadership tried to make Angela Rayner “carry the can” by firing her as party chairman and elections co-ordinator in the wake of a poor performance in the local elections, according to veteran MP Diane Abbott.
The former home secretary said there is a “problem with strategy” within the party as she urged unity from Sir Keir Starmer, who has made changes to his top team amid criticism after the dismal results.
Rachel Reeves has been promoted to shadow chancellor as part of the Labour leader’s reshuffle, with former incumbent Anneliese Dodds relegated to party chairman.
Deputy leader Ms Rayner, fired as party chairman and elections co-ordinator on Saturday following Labour’s shock defeat in the Hartlepool by-election, takes Ms Reeves’ former post of shadow chancellor to the Duchy of Lancaster.
LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Strong pound hurts FTSE as lockdown set to ease
Mon, 10th May 2021 17:00
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended lower on Monday, with the internationally-exposed FTSE 100 stifled by an appreciating pound, as the UK prepares for further easing of lockdown restrictions next week.
The Covid-19 alert level in the UK has been downgraded after a consistent fall in cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
The four chief medical officers of the UK have said the threat level should be lowered from level 4 to level 3 , thanks to the success of the vaccination programme and social distancing restrictions.
This means that the epidemic is in general circulation, but transmission of the virus is no longer deemed to be high or rising exponentially.
ANAS Sarwar has refused to say Keir Starmer is responsible for Labour s local election losses in England. With 131 out of 143 English councils declared, Labour were down 247 seats today, while the Tories were up by 290. That includes Durham Council, which was the first county hall to go red in 1919 and had been under Labour control since 1925. But Labour lost 16 seats on the council in Thursday s local elections - its worst loss on any council in England so far. Asked if Starmer was to blame for the loss, Sarwar told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “I don’t think you can scapegoat anybody, I don’t think anyone is saying one person is to blame, it is a collective effort, and we have all got to collectively pull this Labour Party together.”