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Labour MP challenges ministers to trigger leadership contest as PM vows to fight on – UK politics live | Politics
Catherine West’s call for leadership contest ‘completely wrong’, says Bridget Phillipson
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, is speaking on Sky’s Sunday with Trevor Phillips.
Asked about Catherine West’s leadership challenge, she says:
Catherine is a great colleague, and I’ve known her a long time. And I have real respect for Catherine.
On this one, I do part company with her. I think she’s got this completely wrong.
She says Labour got a “real kicking” from voters.
But she says she does not think a leadership contest is the answer.
I don’t think … a leadership contest and all of the problems that that would bring is the answer.
Key events
Bridget Phillipson was the next interviewee on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, and she repeated many of the points that she made on Sky earlier.
But she also said she was really concerned about the division we are seeing in Britain. She said Reform UK did “incredibly well” in Sunderland, where they took control of the council. But she said that one of their candidates, who was elected as a candidate, is on record as suggesting “we should melt down Nigerians to fill in potholes”. She said that sort of racism had to be challenged.
Q: Is it true that Andy Burnham’s supporters have asked you to pull back because they don’t want to have a leadership contest now?
West did not answer the question. Instead she said she thought it was important to “move quickly” because “uncertainty” would be bad for Labour.
West sidesteps question about whether she would get enough MP backers to mount leadership challenge herself
Q: We spoke to Labour MPs, and most said you had no chance of getting the numbers needed for a leadership challenge?
West said she was a “fair person”. She said she would listen to what Starmer says in the speech planned for tomorrow.
If I’m still dissatisfied, I will put out my email to the parliamentary Labour party asking for names.
And the reason I’m doing that is not for me. It’s for working people. Because Labour is the only party that can beat Reform. We are the only national force that can take on Reform across the whole of the UK, and that will be the job coming up in the 2028 or ‘29 general election.
Q: But do you think you can get the numbers?
West said: “We will find out.”
She said Anna Turley, chair of the Labour party, was a good friend. She said she had asked her for a timetable for an orderly transition into a leadership contest.
And she repeated her point about wanting women to consider standing.
Kuenssberg started her main interview by asking West why she was asking the cabinet to act.
West replied:
What I’d like the cabinet to do is to reflect on the result from Thursday, where the voters sent us a very strong message that we are not good enough.
If you a school failing an inspection report, you would take the head out, wouldn’t you? Or you take the chair of the council out. The same goes for a hospital inspection or in a company. The CEO would have to take responsibility and the board would have to basically bring on new leadership.
West tells Phillipson in BBC studio she should consider standing for Labour leadership
At the start of her programme Laura Kuenssberg addressed Catherine West and Bridget Phillipson who were sitting waiting for the main interviews.
Kuenssberg told West she wanted a cabinet minister to challenge Keir Starmer. She said she was sitting next to one of them. What was her message to her?
West replied:
Well, there’s nothing stopping Bridget from standing. Why are all the men better than the women? We do need some senior women to step forward and to challenge for what is going to be a really difficult two and a half years between now and the general election, and also to take us into that second term.
In response, Phillipson said:
I love you dearly, Catherine, but I just disagree on this one.
On the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, said Labour was at risk of becoming “extinct”. It abandoned the working class, and the working class then chose to abandon Labour. Labour needed “a completely different economic direction and political direction”, she said.
At the end of the interview Trevor Phillips asked Phillipson if she thought Starmer would lead the party into the next election, and if she wanted him to.
Phillipson replied: “Yes on both counts.”
In the panel discussion in the studio after, the journalists Anne McElvoy from Politico and Patrick Maguire from the Times both said they thought Phillipson did not show 100% enthusiasm as she answered the question in the way she did.
Q: Angela Rayner says that Shabana Mahmood’s plan to extend the amount of time immigrants have to wait until they can apply for indefinite leave to remain. Will those plans change?
Phillipson said that was subject to consultation.
But it is right that we take action on immigration. It is also right that we demonstrate to the public that not only can we control the borders, we control who lives in our country.
Trevor Phillips told Phillipson that Harriet Harman and Gordon Brown were serious people, and friends of his. But he mocked the idea that people who did not vote Labour last Thursday might have changed their mind if they had known Harman and Brown were getting appointments as government envoys.
Phillipson said that Harman and Brown were “tremendously talented people” who had “a lot to offer”.
Q: Starmer on Friday talked about Labour having made mistakes. But he did not say what they were. What have been the party’s biggest mistakes?
Phillipson said there had been a few. One of the biggest was cutting winter fuel payments for most pensions, she said.
Another problem was being “too gloomy and too negative”. She explained:
Early on people knew the country was in a mess. They didn’t need us to remind us to to remind them in such detail that the country was in a mess.
Labour losing support because people don’t think it has delivered change they were promised, Phillipson says
Asked if she had a message for Labour MPs asked to support West’s leadership challenge, Phillipson said:
What I heard [from voters during the election] was not a desire for a leadership contest, for the Labour party to spend more time talking amongst ourselves. What I heard loud and clear from voters was their deep sense of frustration that they’d voted for change in 2024. They were hopeful that that change would be delivered, and they don’t feel that we as a party, or we as a Labour government, have delivered what they wanted.
West not likely to get backing she needs to launch leadership challenge, Phillipson says
Asked what would happen if Catherine West is able to get all the signatures she needs to launch a leadership challenge, Phillipson replied: “I don’t think that will happen.”
But she said that was not the point, because the party did need to respond to the election results.
Catherine West’s call for leadership contest ‘completely wrong’, says Bridget Phillipson
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, is speaking on Sky’s Sunday with Trevor Phillips.
Asked about Catherine West’s leadership challenge, she says:
Catherine is a great colleague, and I’ve known her a long time. And I have real respect for Catherine.
On this one, I do part company with her. I think she’s got this completely wrong.
She says Labour got a “real kicking” from voters.
But she says she does not think a leadership contest is the answer.
I don’t think … a leadership contest and all of the problems that that would bring is the answer.
Starmer insists he won’t quit as PM, as former minister Catherine West seeks to trigger Labour leadership contest
Good morning. There were many predictions for Labour’s future ahead of the English, Scottish and Welsh elections, which have been terrible for the party, but there is one outcome foreseen by no one: a leadership challenge by Catherine West.
West, MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet and a junior Foreign Office minister until she was sacked in the reshuffle last year, announced yesterday afternoon that, unless a cabinet minister comes forward to challenge Starmer for the Labour leadership by tomorrow morning, she will do it herself. She would need the support of 81 Labour MPs to trigger a contest; there is no evidence that she has those numbers and (for reasons that are probably a mystery to anyone under the age of 50 – more on that later) she is being described as a stalking horse.
While there may not be 81 Labour MPs who want to see West as party leader, there probably are many more than 81 who want to see Starmer replaced as leader befor the next election. Almost 40, by one count, have been going public since the elections on Thursday saying as much. But, in their comments, mostly they have been adopting the same line as St Augustine took on chastity; ‘Lord, give me a Labour leadership contest, but not yet.’
Why? Some of them have been saying Starmer should be given a chance to show that he can turn things round. But mostly the Labour MPs speaking out are on the soft left of the party and believe Andy Burnham would be the best replacement. They want a commitment from Starmer that he will stand down in the medium term, so that Burnham has time to get elected to parliament first so he can stand as a candidate.
West is trying to speed up the process. This is seen as fatal to Burnham and potentially helpful to Wes Streeting, the health secretary, and Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, who would probably be the lead candidates in a contest held now. West has dismissed suggestion that she is acting on behalf of someone else. Yesterday she said there was “plenty of talent” in the shadow cabinet capable of providing leadership. Since Thursday, Rayner has not yet commented on the election defeats; Streeting has said he supports Starmer.
The prospect of an early contest explains why some Labour MPs on the soft left are now reviving talk of trying to get Ed Miliband to stand. Here is our story by Peter Walker and Jessica Elgot.
Starmer insists he will not give up without a fight. He has given an interview to the Observer and he told the paper that he was engaged in a “10-year project of renewal” and that his intention was to lead the party into the next general election and serve a full second term.
He said:
I’m not going to walk away from the job I was elected to do in July 2024. I’m not going to plunge the country into chaos.
Here is the agenda for the day.
8.30am: Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, is interviewed on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News. The other guests are: Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader; Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader set to become the next first minister of Wales; James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary; and Stephen Flynn, who is stepping down as SNP leader at Westminster having been elected to the Scottish parliament.
9.30am: Catherine West, the former Labour minister, is interviewed on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. Phillipson, Tice, ap Iorwerth and Cleverly on on too.
1pm: A rally against antisemitism is happening outside Downing Street organised in support of Britain’s Jewish community.
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The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
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