Keir Starmer Refuses To Step Aside As Labour Uprising Divides Government After May 7 Local Elections

Keir Starmer reiterated at the Tuesday meeting of the Council of Ministers that he would not step aside, insisting, "I intend to continue governing." The firstonline.info account says the Labour uprising is dividing the government after the electoral defeat at the Local elections of May 7, with some members of his own government calling for a "timetable" for his resignation.

“Home Mondo, News Is Starmer on the brink of collapse”

firstonline.info

It also says the number of Labour MPs openly calling for his resignation had risen to around 80, updated hourly, while at least four prominent ministers were described as meeting privately to urge him to set a date for an "orderly" change of leadership.

World Socialist Web Site

The same source links market pressure to political stability, saying the British currency lost ground against the euro with the GBP/EUR exchange rate down 0,39% to 1,1505 and the pound/dollar exchange rate down 0,4% to around 1,355 dollars.

In that context, it adds that the 10-year Gilt yields reached 5,1% (+2%) at their highest since 2008 and British 30-year Gilts reached their highest level since 1998 at +5,8%.

firstonline.info says the rift emerged in Starmer’s own cabinet in the last few hours, naming the Minister of the Interior Shabana Mahmood and the Foreign Affairs minister Yvette Cooper among those who met privately to urge an "orderly" change of leadership.

It also reports that Darren Jones, described as Starmer’s right-hand man, had not ruled anything out, limiting himself to saying that Starmer will "listen to his colleagues" in government and then "reflect."

World Socialist Web Site

The World Socialist Web Site frames Starmer’s Monday address as a "survival speech" after Labour’s disastrous loss in last week’s local elections and elections to the devolved assemblies in Scotland and Wales.

That same source says Labour lost almost 1,500 councillors in local elections across England and that the party’s worst-ever result at a Holyrood election returned just 17 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament.

It adds that over the week more than 30 Labour MPs called for him to go immediately and that John McDonnell said Starmer should announce his departure to prepare an "orderly transition to a new leadership."

Alongside the leadership fight, firstonline.info says Starmer announced the nationalization of British Steel and quoted him saying, "Steel is a sovereign good," while describing "economic security" as a pillar of the new course.

“Home Mondo, News Is Starmer on the brink of collapse”

www.firstonline.info

The same source says Starmer’s speech included a bill to give the government the power to take full national ownership of British Steel and that he said, "We have negotiated with the current owner, but no agreement has been reached for a commercial sale," while adding that the nationalization would be subject to "public interest criteria."

It also reports that Jingye Group announced last year its intention to close the two blast furnaces of Scunthorpe, the last remaining coal-fired blast furnaces in the country, putting at risk 2.700 jobs.

The World Socialist Web Site, in contrast, argues that the move is about securing an asset vital to Britain’s war machine, quoting Starmer’s line that "Strong nations, in a world like this, need to make steel."

That source says Starmer’s reset would begin with Wednesday’s King’s Speech setting out the government’s agenda for the coming year, while it claims the speech’s examples confirmed the government’s priorities rather than a pitch to the working class.