Labour MP: Bond markets ‘will have to fall into line’ with Burnham agenda May 12, 2026 Bond markets will have to fall in line with an Andy Burnham premiership even if the Manchester mayor pursues a considerably more left-leaning economic platform, a Labour MP has claimed. Paula Barker, the Labour member for Liverpool Wavertree, hailed Burnham as a “fantastic politician” who is the only person likely to beat Keir Starmer in [...]
Going for growth? Labour groups set out competing visions for economic strategy May 12, 2026 Competing groups of Labour MPs have published contrasting growth plans on Tuesday, just as Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership stood on the brink. Both the left-wing Tribune group of MPs and the more centrist Labour Growth Group published pamphlets setting out a number of ideas for growth and tax reform. Tribune’s report, led by former transport [...]
Life after Starmer: What could a new Labour prime minister mean for your money? May 12, 2026 It could soon be time to face the music for Keir Starmer after dozens of MPs called for the Prime Minister to throw in the towel, which could unleash months of speculation and uncertainty. Leading frontrunners for the top job include the Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, former deputy PM Angela Rayner and health secretary Wes [...]
‘Bond market meltdown’: UK borrowing costs highest since 1998 as Starmer fights for survival May 12, 2026 Warnings of a “bond market meltdown” flashed through the City on Tuesday after government borrowing costs soared as pressure mounted on Sir Keir Starmer’s future in Downing Street. For weeks, City investors have been on high alert as fears mounted that a mass rebellion would be triggered after devastating local election results. Traders fear the [...]
Starmer dares Labour rebels to trigger contest if they want him out May 12, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has told his Cabinet that challengers need to step up and trigger a contest if they want him to quit. Starmer said he took responsibility for the local election results but refused to resign in a statement to senior government ministers on Tuesday. He told ministers: “As I said yesterday, I take [...]
Chaos may well be preferable to Keir Starmer’s unyielding blankness May 12, 2026 Keir Starmer's promise for change is as convincing as a bad boyfriend's. MPs may well decide they prefer chaos to this neverending blandness.
Changing the leader won’t save Labour – or the country May 12, 2026 The well-intentioned but hapless Labour backbencher, Catherine West, spent the weekend warning that if she didn’t like Keir Starmer’s speech she’d launch a leadership challenge in a bid to flush out more serious candidates. In the end, she backed down, but has called for a transition of power to a leader in September. She has [...]
Cabinet ministers urge Starmer to set path for succession May 11, 2026 Keir Starmer’s Downing Street operation was plunged into a full-blown crisis on Monday, after three cabinet ministers urged him to set a timeline for his resignation despite the robust defence of his premiership he launched in a make-or-break stump speech earlier in the day. Speculation over the future of his government reached fever pitch into [...]
‘Twenty years of caution’: Banking industry ramps up efforts to fix ‘anaemic’ UK growth May 11, 2026 The UK’s industry body for banking has stepped up its lobbying efforts for the government to improve “anaemic” growth figures and bolster the financial services sector. A new report published by UK Finance – the body representing around 300 firms that provide UK banking services – has issued a nine-point plan, which calls for “clear [...]
Starmer serves up his best and empty platitudes May 11, 2026 If today’s relaunch-not-relaunch buys Keir Starmer any additional time in Downing Street, it will only be due to the extraordinary fecklessness of his would-be challengers, none of whom has anything significant to say about change either, says Eliot Wilson Is Sir Keir Starmer all right? There is a reason I ask. At last week’s local [...]