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Reeves in tears at PMQs after 'altercations with Starmer and Speaker'
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Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
Inquiry into Covid care home mistakes must give bereaved closure
People across the UK will look back on the pandemic as the most traumatic moment of their lifetime. A deadly virus forced the suspension of everyday life and created turmoil on an unprecedented level. The country was plunged into lockdown, workers' jobs were furloughed and tens of thousands of poor souls died. It was only when the vaccine was developed that we turned the corner and beat Covid. Nowhere was the pain felt more acutely than in our care homes. With older people at more risk, Covid ripped through care homes and thousands died. Deadly blunders like discharging patients into homes without a Covid test only added to the heartbreak. The UK Covid Inquiry will this week look at the impact of the pandemic on care homes and the agony felt by residents and their families. Visits were heavily curtailed and elderly relatives died without getting to say their goodbyes. At the same time, Boris Johnson and his Downing Street cronies flouted the rules by partying hard. It was this contrast – demanding obedience from voters while ignoring social distancing in No10 – that set in train the Tory defeat last year. Families want politicians, whether they were in London or Edinburgh, to be held accountable for their actions. The key mistakes in Scotland were made by the SNP government and the UK inquiry is unlikely to pull its punches. And the UK Government aggravated the pain by the disgrace of party-gate. The bereaved want to move on, but to do so they need answers. Time for a reset It is nearly 12 months since Labour and Keir Starmer beat the Tories after a thrilling general election win. Starmer is a good man who wants to make the country a better place, but his start has been mixed. Cutting winter fuel payments was a disaster and the plan for welfare cuts continues to cause anxiety. The common denominator in both policies is Labour taking money away from people who need it, rather than boosting incomes. The wider problem has been the lack of a positive story to tell voters about the type of society the Prime Minister wants to build. Left-wing Labour MP Brian Leishman does not get every call right, but he is correct to say Starmer needs to listen to his MPs more. The welfare debacle could have been sorted long ago had ministers taken the concerns of MPs easy. Starmer's first anniversary is an opportunity for a reset and a chance to show the difference Labour policies can make for ordinary people.
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Rachel Reeves' uncle reveals why she was crying at PMQs as he blasts Keir Starmer and Labour for 'joke' first year in power
Chancellor Rachel Reeves ' uncle believes Keir Starmer was to blame for her tears at PMQs after she cited a 'personal issue' for sobbing in the Commons. Terry Smith, 72, the brother of the Chancellor's mother Sally Reeves, also advised his niece to 'stop spending money on the migrants and focus on fixing the country instead'. But the retired construction company owner and vintage car enthusiast, who hails from north Kent, is clear that the Prime Minister, in his view, was responsible for Ms Reeves' sobbing. 'I think Rachel was upset because she wasn't getting the backing she deserved, Keir Starmer immediately backtracked and backed her', he told MailOnline today. And he does not think she should be blamed for some of the 'farcical' policies and decisions Labour has made - pointing the finger at the PM, Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband 'and the rest'. The pound and bond markets plunged as tears tumbled down her face while the Chancellor looked directly at the Labour leader. But she later insisted she had been dealing with a 'personal issue' - not a row with her boss or colleagues. But her uncle Terry told MailOnline: 'For Rachel to be taking all the responsibility just doesn't seem right'. He added: 'I don't agree with Rachel's politics, but I don't think she deserves all the blame. Keir Starmer needs to take some responsibility, as do Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband and the rest - they are all begging for money from her for their departments'. Terry, who has said he is proud of his niece but opposes her political views, has admitted he is upset about the way Labour Government has targeted pensioners. 'I'm a pensioner, I have paid my dues all my life. I think pensioners have been wrongly treated and should not be involved in this issue and should be left alone', he said. 'I never thought the winter fuel payments should be going to rich people - but now it seems like they're going to everyone again. They should be means tested. 'The benefits policy, obviously we need to get the costs lower, but I don't understand where this new black hole has come from. 'When she started Rachel said there was a black hole, she filled that, and now there's another one. 'They seem to have spent all the money on the NHS and now there's nothing left for anything else - that and the people coming across on small boats. 'They should just stop spending money on the migrants and focus on fixing the country instead'. He added: 'It has just been farcical - the whole thing is a joke.' Uncle Terry spoke out after Keir Starmer 's claim that he did not know Rachel Reeves was in tears was branded 'nonsense' after the Tories insisted they gave Labour 'early warning' of her distress. Tory MPs revealed they alerted Labour whips to the fact that the Chancellor was weeping in the Commons to ensure she got help. They say that was at 11.43am – 17 minutes before Prime Minister's Questions when Ms Reeves had tears rolling down her cheeks as she sat next to an apparently oblivious Sir Keir. One Tory MP said: 'It simply beggars belief that with that much warning, the PM wasn't told. 'Nearly 20 minutes before PMQs began, we could see Reeves was already tearful sitting on the front bench and we alerted Labour whips to the problem. 'It's nonsense to say Starmer wouldn't have been aware.' Last night Downing Street was still insisting Sir Keir spent the entire half-hour session of questions unaware of her trauma. But amid continued confusion, party sources claimed last night that Labour whips were so worried at Ms Reeves' state of mind, they tried to stop her appearing alongside Sir Keir. The Treasury insisted her distress was caused by a personal matter, while Ms Reeves sought to bounce back next day with an unexpected appearance at the launch of the Government's ten-year health plan They said whips pleaded with Ms Reeves – who had briefly come out of the Chamber – not to go back inside. But sources close to the Chancellor said there was 'no truth' in that claim. Ms Reeves said yesterday she regretted going into PMQs in tears 'after a tough day in the office'. She told The Guardian: 'It was a personal matter but it was in the glare of the camera. 'And that's unfortunate, but I think people have seen that I'm back in business and back out there.' The events – which sparked turmoil on financial markets – began after Ms Reeves was rebuked by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle as she entered the Commons over taking too long to answer Treasury questions the previous day. She was overheard replying that she was 'under so much pressure' before briefly taking her seat but then leaving afterwards in what appeared to be distress. To the surprise of some Labour MPs, Ms Reeves then reappeared to take her place at Sir Keir's side when he arrived for PMQs. But to the horror of colleagues, the self-styled Iron Chancellor then wept beside the PM. MPs were surprised that Sir Keir was seemingly oblivious to how upset she was, even after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch pointed out how 'absolutely miserable' she looked. Sir Keir also forgot to guarantee that his Chancellor's position was safe after her role in last week's humiliating U-turn on saving almost £5 billion from controversial welfare cutbacks. The Government was forced to deny reports that Sir Keir and his deputy Angela Rayner had rows with Ms Reeves over the benefits fiasco which had upset her. The Treasury insisted her distress was caused by a personal matter, while Ms Reeves sought to bounce back next day with an unexpected appearance at the launch of the Government's ten-year health plan. But questions have remained over how Sir Keir could not have been aware of her state of mind – especially as his parliamentary aide Chris Ward tapped her on the shoulder to check she was OK.
Spectator
10 hours ago
- Spectator
Can Starmer convince the French to finally sign a migrant deal?
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, hits town today. It's Macron's first state visit to the UK and the first by any EU head of state since Brexit. Today, it's the King's turn to take the lead in all the pomp and flummery. Tomorrow, Keir Starmer will take the leading role. Everyone is watching and waiting, with breath duly bated, as to whether Starmer and the French can secure a landmark deal Everyone is watching and waiting, with breath duly bated, as to whether Starmer and the French can secure a landmark deal to return migrants crossing the English Channel. The so-called 'one out, one in' plan under discussion would see those who arrive illegally in small boats returned to France, while the UK accepted instead migrants with a family link to those already in the UK. Although this will not reduce the overall net migration figures, if it works it will strengthen the idea that the government has some control of its borders. In time it could act as a deterrent to people paying people smugglers £5,000 a time to jump on a barely seaworthy dinghy. Like all cynical observers, the talk that this is all going down to the wire seems to me designed to heighten the drama of the deal when it inevitably emerges. But the fact that it has taken a year for Starmer and Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, to get to this position is also revealing. Bluntly, Labour expected the old entente with France to be more cordiale than it has been over the last 12 months. Indeed, it seems to me that one of the signal miscalculations Starmer's team made in opposition was to assume that just not being the wicked incompetent Tories would be enough to secure a range of favours from our European partners, who seem to have more immutable national interests than us. On both migration and a new trading relationship, the mood music towards the first Labour PM in 14 years was good. Brussels was tired of the rows and the war in Ukraine showed that the UK still has a significant role to play in European defence. But that did not stop the French digging in over fishing rights with Nick Thomas-Symonds and Michael Ellam, Britain's EU negotiators, just as they had with David Frost, Oliver Robbins and David Davis. 'Keir being Keir did not stop the French being French,' observed one Downing Street aide. Migration was the one thing where Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister's chief of staff, seemed to have misunderstood the state of play in 2024. Even he thought the Tories were not really trying to solve the small boats issue in order to keep immigration a salient issue for the general election. Labour would do deals with EU countries, focus on 'upstream working' and (of course) 'smash the gangs'. No matter how often those of us who talked regularly to the Sunak No. 10 or the Home Office, and stressed that the Conservatives really were trying to get the numbers under control, Labour thought it was all a trick. Cooper is finding it no easier to strike returns deals than Robert Jenrick when he was immigration minister, or upstream working than Ben Wallace tried as defence secretary. The last year, in this regard above all others, has proved a rude awakening. The fact that Team Starmer now wants a deterrent deal with France shows that they accept that the premise of the Rwanda arrangement was not quite as skew-whiff as they said a year ago. And the fact that France has been a blockage, so far at least, to migrant returns and EU trade arrangements (which remain very much up in the air) shows that sentimentality will never get in the way of France's national interest. Remember that when the gushing starts tomorrow.
