Latest news with #cabinet
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Angela Rayner: No 10 officials guilty of ‘self-harm' by briefing against ministers
Angela Rayner has hit back at anonymous No 10 officials who have briefed against senior cabinet ministers in recent months, warning them they are committing 'self-harm'. The deputy prime minister launched an outspoken defence of herself and other colleagues – often women – who have found themselves the subject of negative headlines in recent months, with several being tipped for the sack at a future reshuffle. Speaking to the Guardian's Politics Weekly podcast, Rayner reflected on an occasionally turbulent first year in power and admitted to occasional frustrations at the way in which some Labour ministers have been criticised. 'Sometimes there are briefings and I don't know where these alleged sources are and who is the person that is saying this,' she said. 'That can be quite frustrating, because people will say it's No 10's briefing or it's a source from No 10. But in reality, it's like: 'Well, who said that?' 'We've had these briefings that my colleagues – Bridget [Phillipson, the education secretary], Lisa [Nandy, the culture secretary] … [and] I am being marginalised. I'm like, 'Where is that coming from?'' She added: 'It's not a good idea to do that, and it wouldn't be helpful to No 10 to do that – it's not in No 10's interest to brief that. So when anonymous sources are doing that, it's a matter of self-harm. When they do that, it's not the reality of how we work as a cabinet and how our colleagues conduct themselves.' Rayner's comments come after a difficult first year for Labour, which has been marked by achievements in her own policy areas but also friction at senior levels of government and within the parliamentary Labour party. While Rayner has been able to pass the employment rights bill in the Commons, make changes to the care system and secure more investment for social housing, other pledges have proved more difficult, such as delivering the highest economic growth in the G7. Reports have suggested that several senior ministers are in Downing Street's crosshairs for what would be Keir Starmer's first reshuffle as prime minister. Some expected Starmer to make ministerial changes before the summer recess, but he decided not to and allies say he does not intend to in the autumn either. Reports earlier this year suggested Nandy and Phillipson would be moved out of their roles, prompting complaints from allies of the education secretary about 'sexist briefings' against senior Labour women. Nandy told the cabinet afterwards that the briefings were 'unacceptable', while Starmer is understood to have subsequently assured both ministers that their jobs are safe. Cabinet tensions are not the only internal difficulties the prime minister and his deputy have had to deal with in their first year. Ministers found it increasingly difficult to persuade backbench colleagues to vote with the government on controversial legislation, culminating in a major rebellion on benefits cuts that only ended when ministers gutted their own bill. Rayner led the negotiations for the government with senior rebels, and told the Guardian she believed Labour MPs would need to be listened to more carefully in future. 'There wasn't enough work done, in terms of listening and responding to what [MPs] were saying,' she said. 'I felt that our colleagues felt that they didn't get the opportunity to be engaged in that process as much as they wanted.' She added that some of the welfare rebellion had been caused by the government's inability to explain that it was trying to slow the rise in the cost of benefits rather than reduce it in real terms. 'Welfare is going up and it's going up a lot,' she said. 'So there was never a cut to welfare, it's flattening the curve of how much welfare is bringing people into the system at the moment. I don't think we articulated that.' She added: 'Our values, our Labour values, I think they got lost in the messaging. So there are some real clear lessons for us about how we introduce what we're saying, how we articulate that and then how we drive that through the parliamentary process.' Rayner acknowledged frustrations felt among the electorate about Labour's first year in power, which she said were driven in part by voters' desperation for rapid change. 'The challenge, if I reflect on the last 12 months, is that the appetite for change is so instant,' she said. 'People want it, they're so frustrated. They really want to see that change. And the cogs of government don't enable you to do the big bang – 'Hey, tomorrow we're gonna do this' – and it instantly changes your life. 'Digging out some of the ingrained poverty that we've got in this country, giving people opportunity, turning our economy around – these are things that can't be done overnight, but we've set the seeds now to hopefully make sure that we get that national renewal. 'But I think the pace of change is frustrating for people.' She added that she was particularly proud of reforms that gave young people leaving care greater access to social housing. 'I felt we had a responsibility to give them that extra bit of support,' she said. But she said she remained concern about the pace at which housing developers were replacing cladding and other building materials in the wake of the Grenfell disaster. 'Thousands of people are in buildings at the moment that need remediation and I go to sleep at night and think, you know, God forbid something like that happens.'
BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Cabinet unveiled following Boston Borough Council revolt
A new cabinet has been unveiled at Boston Borough Council after the authority's leader was voted out of nine-strong cabinet is a coalition, led by Dale Broughton, the former deputy comes as 14 members who recently quit as Boston Independents have formed a new Progressive Independents Boston cabinet comprises seven Progressive Independents, a Conservative, and new deputy leader Mike Gilbert, who sits with the 20-20 Independent group. The shake-up at the town hall means the Progressive Independents are just shy of a majority, with 14 of the 30 councillors sitting as members of the new are seven members of the 20-20 group, four Conservatives and two unaligned Dorrian, of the Boston Independents, was ousted as council leader in a vote earlier this co-founded the group and became leader after the party took control of the authority in is now one of just three remaining members of the Boston Independents following the recent mass defections. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Dorrian called the defectors "selfish beyond measure"."I wasn't brought down by voters – it was a group who chose betrayal over bravery, and cowardice over conversation," she leader Broughton responded that "14 out of 17 councillors can't be wrong".Gilbert described the spat as a "domestic issue for the Boston Independent group".Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Angela Rayner's critique of Labour's performance is short on solutions
Angela Rayner has a reputation for being forthright – and, according to the 'readout' of the last cabinet meeting before the summer recess, she has had some punchy things to say to her colleagues about the state of the nation. Reflecting on the riots that swept the country after the Southport tragedy almost a year ago, Ms Rayner is blunt about the government's collective performance. The official summary, itself a bowlderised version of her remarks, records her comprehensive critique about the causes of the civil unrest: 'Economic insecurity, the rapid pace of de-industrialisation, immigration and the impacts on local communities and public services, technological change and the amount of time people were spending alone online, and declining trust in institutions was having a profound impact on society.' Those factors were certainly at play in the riots last July, and are still in evidence now, notably in Epping, the Essex market town where an asylum seeker has been charged with sexual assault. There have since been signs of trouble at another hotel requisitioned by the Home Office for migrant accommodation, in Diss in Norfolk. As has been noted, these are the kind of 'tinderbox' conditions that the authorities need to treat with great care, and which have already resulted, in the case of Epping, in agitators turning up, and in unjustified attacks on the police. Ms Rayner is right to confront her colleagues, and indeed her own department, responsible as it is for 'communities', about the frustrations felt by the public and the widespread disaffection that will continue to build unless the government 'delivers' some tangible evidence of the 'change' in their lives promised by Labour at the last general election. This is most obviously so over immigration, though not confined to it, and the slow progress in 'smashing the gangs', ending the use of hotels to house migrants, and clearing the backlog of claims the government inherited. Where Ms Rayner may be faulted is in making such concerns so public at such a sensitive time – in the context of a palpable sense of unrest and the threat of another round of summer rioting. That is the context of her words. Obviously, she has no intention of having her implicit warnings about more riots be in any way a self-fulfilling prophecy, let alone inciting non-peaceful protest, but that may well be their practical effect. The timing of what she said is unfortunate and clumsy. At a moment when Nigel Farage – who is shameless about exploiting grievances – is stirring things up with overheated claims that 'we're actually facing, in many parts of the country, nothing short of societal collapse ' – this is no time to be adding to the sense of unease. With no sense of irony, given the tacit encouragement Mr Farage offers to the protesters, the Reform UK leader talks about 'lawless Britain' where 'criminals don't particularly respect the police and they're acting in many cases with total impunity'. The Essex police, faced as they are with an impossible job of controlling a mob and in enforcing the law impartially as it stands, will not have thanked Mr Farage for his words. Still less will they welcome Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who intends to descend on Epping in the coming days, with all that entails. Ms Rayner ought not to be adding her voice to these sorts of tensions. The other, wider criticism of Ms Rayner's reported assessment is that she is long on analysis but short on solutions. She rightly says that Britain is a 'successful, multi-ethnic, multi-faith country', and that 'the government had to show it had a plan to address people's concerns and provide opportunities for everyone to flourish'. For her part, she is going to produce her own Plan for Neighbourhoods, but she must also take her share of the blame – there is no better word – for the government's collective failure to create a sense that it has a cohesive plan or programme for government to solve the various challenges she identifies. One year on, there is still a sense that the government lacks a 'narrative' of what it is doing and why. People wish to see progress and understand how the sacrifices they make in paying higher taxes will prove worth it. The tangled web of 'missions', 'tasks' and 'priorities' that Sir Keir Starmer weaved as he entered government last year has not so much unravelled as been forgotten. Irregular migration, stagnant living standards, the public finances and the NHS, again facing renewed and deeply damaging industrial action, are intractable challenges that successive governments have been defeated by, and they will inevitably take time and resources to improve. The public needs to be reassured about that. As Ms Rayner indicates: 'It is incumbent on the government to acknowledge the real concerns people have and to deliver improvements to people's lives and their communities.' The good news for Sir Keir, Ms Rayner and their colleagues is that, riots or not, they still have three to four years to show that this Labour government works. If not, then they know how disastrous the consequences could be, because they were inflicted on the Conservatives not so long ago.
Telegraph
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Cleverly vs Rayner is no sideshow – it's an audition
Kemi's reshuffle faces that classic Opposition conundrum: how do you build a cabinet of all the talents when you've got no talent? The answer: James Cleverly. Tough. Egotistical. Simply irresistible. When his name flashed up on TV – 'Cleverly to shadow Rayner' – he probably punched the air and cried: 'The boys are back in town!' This is the kind of self-confident, political jock who gives his penis not only a name but a military rank. Lieutenant Colonel Big Jim thrust his way into the Commons, presumably looking for some MPs to congratulate him – but found the benches sparse. 'Twas the last day before recess and the subject was Birmingham bin collections, so there were just 15 in the chamber, including four Gaza independents and Jeremy Corbyn (dressed, out of solidarity, in a binman's waterproof jacket). Cleverly said hello to a whip and left. A pity, because the subject is fascinating. Unions accuse Labour-run Brum of cutting workers' wages, and Unite has suspended Angela Rayner's membership for backing the council. It's akin to when the Kronstadt sailors turned on the Bolsheviks, having discovered that the Left in power can be every bit as mean and nasty as the upper class. It's also a preview of future public sector strikes thanks to the Treasury's fiscal rules. Hence Rayner is privately arguing for tax rises rather than cuts, along with action to address the impact of mass migration. As the rubbish piles higher, the only alternative – and I wouldn't put it past Labour – is to give the rats the vote. Rayner is as clever as Cleverly, and the prospect of the two arguing at the despatch box might be Kemi's best move yet – though it carries risk. Cleverly would like to be Tory leader some day, preferably tomorrow; so he'll revel in the exposure. Rayner is equally ambitious, and the rebellion among Left-wing MPs, along with the spectre of a Corbynite party, strengthens her hand. A year ago, Starmer planned to govern as a centrist: balance the books, unleash business. But the economy refuses to grow, however much the Chancellor shouts at it, and the welfare mutiny has put redistribution back on the agenda. One can imagine the parliamentary Left turning on Starmer, with Rayner – goddess of social housing – as their preferred candidate. Cleverly vs Rayner is no sideshow. It's an audition. Till then, the few MPs still around are packing bags, ordering taxis. Soon the palace will empty but for the ghosts of dead kings and Maggie, the Speaker's tortoise (he also has a parrot called Boris and cats called Attlee and Clem). The Chancellor gave a final discourse on her 'three pillars' to running the economy at a gentle Lords committee, which was a nice way to round off the term. At one point, she appeared to put her head in her hands. Behind her, the cameras caught me with my head lolling back, mouth open, snoring like a dog. Till my phone pinged. Latest reshuffle news: Alan Mak is out. The world tilted on its axis; I felt a great disturbance in the force. There was little left to live for but to file a suggested headline: 'MAK THE KNIFED.' Job done, back to sleep.
BBC News
22-07-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Melton Borough Council to decide on £200k bridge replacement
A project to replace a country park bridge in Melton Mowbray and bring it back into use is set to be given the green wooden bridge in Melton Country Park, which crosses Scalford Brook near the stepping stones, was partially submerged when the park flooded in Borough Council's cabinet recommended on Wednesday that the council add the project to its capital programme and allocate £200,000 for the work.A report will go before the full council on Thursday, which recommends replacement of the whole bridge to "reduce vulnerability to extreme weather events in the future".
