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| Rebecca Long-Bailey sacked from shadow cabinet in antisemitism row - live | Rebecca Long-Bailey sacked from shadow cabinet in antisemitism row - live |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Shadow education secretary told to step down from shadow cabinet after sharing article on Twitter that included antisemitic conspiracy theory | Shadow education secretary told to step down from shadow cabinet after sharing article on Twitter that included antisemitic conspiracy theory |
| Reaction from Richard Burgon MP to Rebecca Long-Bailey’s sacking. | |
| Keir Starmer has sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey as shadow education secretary after she tweeted praise for an interview in which the actor Maxine Peake said the US police tactic of kneeling on someone’s neck was taught by the Israeli secret service. | |
| Boris Johnson has full confidence in the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, Downing Street has insisted, despite fresh revelations about his relationship with the billionaire property developer Richard Desmond, in documents published this week. | |
| Boris Johnson appeared unwilling to compromise in order to secure a trade and security deal with Brussels when he joined EU leaders for a summit last week, one of the three who attended the meeting has told the Guardian. | |
| The latest weekly test and trace figures published by the government have shown performance falling back on three key indicators. (See 12.12pm.) | |
| More than 450 workers at four food factories across England and Wales have tested positive for coronavirus. | |
| A major incident was declared after tens of thousands of people defied pleas to stay away and descended in their droves on beaches in Bournemouth and other stretches of the Dorset coast. | |
| More than 20 police officers were injured in south London overnight after attempts to break up a street party triggered violent clashes, which have been widely condemned. | |
| The £900,000 refurbishment of RAF Voyager - the plane used by the Royal Family and the prime minister - has been completed, the BBC reports. | |
| Sir Keir Starmer has recorded a longish interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg today. Here are some excerpts. | Sir Keir Starmer has recorded a longish interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg today. Here are some excerpts. |
| Sir Keir Starmer has made a good start at Labour leader – an Ipsos Mori poll recently gave him the highest approval rating for an opposition leader since Tony Blair in the mid-1990s – but a common argument from commentators has been that, having run as a unity candidate in the leadership contest, he needed to do something to show the party had finally buried the electorally-toxic aspects of the Corbyn era. My colleague Polly Toynbee made this case in the Guardian just three days ago, and others have too. Now that moment has actually arrived. | |
| In some respects the rights and wrongs of what actually happened are secondary – Starmer says sharing the article in the first place was unacceptable (see 4.16pm); Rebecca Long-Bailey says she was sacked because she would not accept the terms of the climbdown required (see 3.53pm) – because they will soon be forgotten. But what won’t be forgotten is that, after less then three months as leader, Starmer abruptly dispatched the most senior Corbynite left in his shadow cabinet. And he did so at a time when the prime minister was facing criticism, including from the Tory papers, for not being able to sack a minister who had become a liability. | |
| It is too soon to be sure what will happen next (see Stephen Bush below), but so far no one has resigned in solidarity with Long-Bailey and the left may find its options for disruption are limited. Starmer does not look like someone at risk of losing his grip on his party. | It is too soon to be sure what will happen next (see Stephen Bush below), but so far no one has resigned in solidarity with Long-Bailey and the left may find its options for disruption are limited. Starmer does not look like someone at risk of losing his grip on his party. |
| The move will also allow him to appoint a new shadow education secretary, at a time when more or less the only line of attack the Conservatives have been able to run against Labour is the claim that the party has sided with the unions against parents wanting to see their children return to school soon. It wasn’t wholly true, but Long-Bailey is likely to be replaced by someone more attuned to the consumer interest than the producer interest in education. | The move will also allow him to appoint a new shadow education secretary, at a time when more or less the only line of attack the Conservatives have been able to run against Labour is the claim that the party has sided with the unions against parents wanting to see their children return to school soon. It wasn’t wholly true, but Long-Bailey is likely to be replaced by someone more attuned to the consumer interest than the producer interest in education. |
| This is what some other commentators are saying. | This is what some other commentators are saying. |
| Stephen Bush in the New Statesman says Starmer has started “a major and significant fight with his party’s left flank”. Here’s an extract. | Stephen Bush in the New Statesman says Starmer has started “a major and significant fight with his party’s left flank”. Here’s an extract. |
| From my colleague Rafael Behr | From my colleague Rafael Behr |
| From the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman | From the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman |
| From Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall | From Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall |
| From Matt Forde, presenter of the Political Party podcast | From Matt Forde, presenter of the Political Party podcast |
| From my colleague Owen Jones | From my colleague Owen Jones |
| From the Mail on Sunday’s Dan Hodges | From the Mail on Sunday’s Dan Hodges |
| From the Tribune editor Ronan Burtenshaw | From the Tribune editor Ronan Burtenshaw |
| From Tom Harris, a former Labour MP and now a Telegraph columnist | From Tom Harris, a former Labour MP and now a Telegraph columnist |
| From the Times’ Patrick Maguire | From the Times’ Patrick Maguire |
| Here is a clip of Sir Keir Starmer explaining why Rebecca Long-Bailey was sacked. | Here is a clip of Sir Keir Starmer explaining why Rebecca Long-Bailey was sacked. |
| These are from two of the MPs who left Labour when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, in part because of his record on antisemitism. They are now both, of course, ex-MPs. | These are from two of the MPs who left Labour when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, in part because of his record on antisemitism. They are now both, of course, ex-MPs. |
| From Mike Gapes | From Mike Gapes |
| From Joan Ryan | From Joan Ryan |
| And this is from John Mann, who was also strongly critical of the party’s record on antisemitism when he was an MP and Corbyn was leader. Mann now sits as an independent peer in the House of Lords. | And this is from John Mann, who was also strongly critical of the party’s record on antisemitism when he was an MP and Corbyn was leader. Mann now sits as an independent peer in the House of Lords. |
| Dame Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP who frequently accused Jeremy Corbyn of being too tolerant on antisemitism, has welcomed the sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey. | Dame Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP who frequently accused Jeremy Corbyn of being too tolerant on antisemitism, has welcomed the sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey. |
| This is from the Commons all-party parliamentary group on antisemitism, and its co-chairs, Labour’s Catherine McKinnell and the Conservative Andrew Percy. | This is from the Commons all-party parliamentary group on antisemitism, and its co-chairs, Labour’s Catherine McKinnell and the Conservative Andrew Percy. |
| From the BBC’s Iain Watson | From the BBC’s Iain Watson |
| These are from Jon Lansman, the founder of Momentum, the pro-Corbyn group in the Labour party, which backed Rebecca Long-Bailey for the leadership. | These are from Jon Lansman, the founder of Momentum, the pro-Corbyn group in the Labour party, which backed Rebecca Long-Bailey for the leadership. |
| The FT’s Jim Pickard says Rebecca Long-Bailey may have read a version of the Maxine Peake interview before it was amended by the Independent. | The FT’s Jim Pickard says Rebecca Long-Bailey may have read a version of the Maxine Peake interview before it was amended by the Independent. |
| A reader sent me a link to the original. | A reader sent me a link to the original. |
| Sir Keir Starmer said Rebecca Long-Bailey’s decision to share the Independent article undermined his attempts to rebuild relations with the Jewish community, speaking to political journalists in Scotland. | Sir Keir Starmer said Rebecca Long-Bailey’s decision to share the Independent article undermined his attempts to rebuild relations with the Jewish community, speaking to political journalists in Scotland. |
| During a short online press conference on Thursday afternoon, arranged to coincide to a “town hall” hustings earlier with Scottish voters, Starmer was asked whether Long-Bailey had admitted she had made a mistake retweeting the Independent interview with Maxine Peak, and had stood down willingly. | During a short online press conference on Thursday afternoon, arranged to coincide to a “town hall” hustings earlier with Scottish voters, Starmer was asked whether Long-Bailey had admitted she had made a mistake retweeting the Independent interview with Maxine Peak, and had stood down willingly. |
| Starmer said: | Starmer said: |
| He refused to comment when asked whether he believed his former education spokeswoman was antisemitic, quoting instead his previous statement. | He refused to comment when asked whether he believed his former education spokeswoman was antisemitic, quoting instead his previous statement. |
| Asked again whether he thought Long-Bailey was antisemitic, he said it was because the Peake interview contained antisemitic conspiracy theories: | Asked again whether he thought Long-Bailey was antisemitic, he said it was because the Peake interview contained antisemitic conspiracy theories: |