Energy Secretary Ed Miliband Calls on the Labour Party to Focus Forward Following Keir Starmer Says Sorry to Wes Streeting for Negative Backgrounding

Senior Labour Party official Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has called for the party to put aside internal conflicts after Prime Minister Keir Starmer personally expressed regret to Health Secretary Wes Streeting over damaging briefings originating from Number 10.

Major Events

• Miliband confirms Starmer will dismiss the No 10 source behind for targeting Wes Streeting if found
• The Energy Secretary rejects future leadership ambitions, declaring his previous time as leader was the "most effective vaccine" against seeking the role again
• UK economic growth increased by just 0.1% in the July-September period, affected by the Jaguar Land Rover hack

Situation

The political turmoil started after reports emerged about critical background comments from Starmer's allies targeting Streeting. Although early efforts to downplay the matter, the talk between the PM and the health minister apparently took a more serious turn.

The Prime Minister said sorry to Wes Streeting, journalists have been told. The exchange was concise, and they did not discuss Morgan McSweeney, whom the PM is now under pressure to remove.

Miliband's Response

In his morning broadcast interviews, Ed Miliband stressed the need for the party to concentrate on country-wide issues rather than internal conflicts.

Look, I think the media briefing has been bad, without doubt.

But my message to the party now is straightforward, which is we need to focus on the public, not our internal matters.

We were given a major mandate last summer, a historic opportunity to transform our country. And we have a historic duty.

Growth News

Meanwhile, official figures showed the UK economic performance grew by just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, with the industrial sector especially hit by the recent Jaguar Land Rover cyber-attack.

Today's Schedule

• Morning: NHS England issues its latest performance figures
• Morning: The Health Secretary is visiting Liverpool
• Today: Rachel Reeves makes comments to the journalists
• 11.30am: Number 10 holds its daily media briefing
• Morning: Keir Starmer highlights government plans for the UK's first nuclear power project at Wylfa on the island of Anglesey