Today’s daily politics briefing
Keir Starmer announced major changes to Labour’s frontbenches on Sunday night, sacking his shadow chancellor and chief whip among others, in an attempt to inject some new life into the party following disastrous election results.
Angela Rayner, who was sacked as the party’s chair and campaign coordinator over the weekend, was given new roles as shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a newly created post on the future of work. Her allies said the move makes her more powerful and present.
It comes after Sir Keir was accused of using Ms Rayner, still the party’s deputy leader, as a scapegoat for Labour’s poor performance at the polls. Veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott claimed this morning Sir Keir was “foolish” for attempting the move and had been forced “to walk it back” after realising “you can’t sack an elected deputy leader”.
In another significant reshuffle, Rachel Reeves takes up the top Treasury post, shadowing Rishi Sunak. She replaces Anneliese Dodds, who was given Ms Rayner’s old job as party chair. And Nick Brown, who served in both the Blair and Brown governments, was replaced as chief whip by his former deputy Alan Campbell.
Hours before the changes were announced, Jeremy Corbyn warned that a reshuffle will not be enough to restore the party’s hopes, urging Sir Keir in an article for The Independent to return to the left-wing “vision” of the 2017 and 2019 manifestos.
Elsewhere, the Queen is expected to focus on setting out Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda in her speech at the House of Lords on Tuesday. It marks the 67th time the monarch has opened parliament since November 1952, though Covid restrictions will makes it a scaled-down affair compared with previous years.
The speech itself, prepared by No 10, is expected to be littered with rhetoric on how the prime minister will spread opportunities across Britain following significant Conservative success at local elections in England. It will also outline plans for Britain’s post-coronavirus recovery.
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Fears social care mention in Queen’s Speech ‘not enough’
Health minister Nadine Dorries has said there will be a mention of social care in the Queen’s Speech, where the government sets out its legislative programme for the coming year, but that she was unable to give further details.
“What is in the Queen’s Speech is confined to the Queen’s Speech, it will be announced by her majesty,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. “There will be mentions, I am sure, of social care.”
It comes as it was announced that the Local Government Association (LGA) sent a cross-party letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak, warning him that a failure to “fix social care” would be “a bitter blow”.
The letter is said to remind Mr Sunak that the government has repeatedly said improving social care “remains a priority”. Boris Johnson even made a pledge to do so on his first day as prime minister, council leaders write.
But they remain concerned that long-promised reform will only get the briefest of mentions in the Queen’s Speech, and urge the government to see this as “an investment in people, rather than a cost that is too difficult or too high”.
Sam Hancock10 May 2021 09:09
Full list of Labour’s shadow cabinet reshuffle
In case you missed it, here is the full list of Labour’s shadow cabinet reshuffle:
- Rachel Reeves has replaced Anneliese Dodds as shadow chancellor,
- Anneliese Dodds has replaced Angela Rayner as the party chair,
- Alan Campbell has replaced Nick Brown as shadow chief whip,
- Lucy Powell has replaced Thangam Debbonaire as shadow housing secretary,
- Thangam Debbonaire has replaced Valerie Vaz as shadow leader of the House of Commons,
- Wes Streeting’s role as shadow minister for schools has been changed to child poverty secretary,
- Angela Rayner, who is deputy leader of the Labour party, has become shadow first secretary, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (taking the role from Rachel Reeves) and shadow secretary for the future of work.
All other shadow ministers have kept their posts.
Sam Hancock10 May 2021 08:49
Starmer urged to return to pledges made in leadership bid
More from Diane Abbott. The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said there was a “problem with strategy” in Labour and urged Keir Starmer to return to policy pledges he made last year such as abolishing universal credit.
“What we want is a strategy for winning from this leadership, because it’s clear from what happened over the weekend, particularly what happened in Hartlepool, there’s a problem with the strategy,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“I would like to see Keir Starmer return to the ten policy pledges that he promised when he ran for the leadership, including abolishing universal credit and putting up taxes on the top 5 per cent.”
She added: “We want to unify the party and return to his ten pledges.”
Sam Hancock10 May 2021 08:41
Starmer ‘foolish’ for trying to fire Rayner, claims Diane Abbott
Labour’s Diane Abbott has accused Keir Starmer of trying to make deputy leader Angela Rayner “carry the can for the poor results at the weekend”.
“It does seem as if, certainly the people around him (Sir Keir Starmer), don’t understand how the party works,” the former shadow home secretary told the BBC’s Today programme.
“They didn’t seem to realise that because she’s an elected deputy leader, you can fiddle around with her title, but you can’t sack her, she remains a senior person in the shadow cabinet.”
When asked if it was the view of deputy leader Ms Rayner that Sir Keir wanted to sack her, Ms Abbott said plainly: “Yes, that’s what all the briefing was about.”
She also said it was a foolish of Sir Keir to “even think about it and he has had to walk it back”, adding: “You can’t sack an elected deputy leader.”
Abbott is pictured at a Labour event in 2019
(Getty)
Sam Hancock10 May 2021 08:34
What to expect from the Queen’s Speech this week
The Queen will open parliament for the 67th time since November 1952 this week, with her speech expected to focus on Boris Johnson’s “levelling up agenda” and the government’s plans for Britain’s recovery from the pandemic.
The event will be significantly scaled-down compared to previous years due to the Covid restrictions, with guests banned and social distancing measures in force.
Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has all the details:
Sam Hancock10 May 2021 08:18
Reeves replaces Dodds as Starmer shakes up top team
Keir Starmer aimed to deliver decisively on his promise of change with a reshuffle just three days after the Super Thursday elections which delivered humiliation for Labour in Hartlepool, Tees Valley and the West Midlands, but saw the party cement its power in Wales and claim a string of mayoral successes including London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, West Yorkshire and the West of England.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock discusses the key position changes:
Sam Hancock10 May 2021 08:14
Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s rolling coverage of UK politics.
Sam Hancock10 May 2021 08:11
