Britain’s newly appointed cabinet ministers have begun to arrive in Downing Street for the first meeting of Sir Keir Starmer’s top team after his decisive election victory over the Conservatives.
Having vowed to lead a government of “service” and to rebuild the electorate’s trust in politics, Starmer showed his determination to engage in a radical policy rethink by appointing several prominent experts to ministerial posts late on Friday night.
The appointments included James Timpson, a businessman noted for his campaigning work in rehabilitation, as the new prisons minister, and former government chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, who will serve as science minister. Both become peers.
Richard Hermer, a human rights lawyer, was also made a peer and appointed as attorney-general, as Starmer passed over veteran MP Emily Thornberry — who held the shadow position — for the post.
Starmer’s government, the first Labour administration in 14 years, is facing immediate challenges including settling doctors’ pay negotiations, and is expected to set out an overhaul of the planning system within days, with the aim of spurring a badly needed housebuilding boom.
As he entered Downing Street on Friday, Starmer used his first speech in office to pledge to rebuild trust between the public and politicians.
“This wound, this lack of trust, can only be healed by actions not words,” he said, promising to prioritise economic growth.
The prime minister is also preparing for next week’s Nato summit, where he will meet world leaders including Joe Biden.
On Friday the US President phoned Starmer to congratulate him on his election victory and to reaffirm “the special relationship between our nations and the importance of working together in support of freedom and democracy around the world,” the White House said.
In his first appointments in office, Starmer named Rachel Reeves, David Lammy and Yvette Cooper as chancellor, foreign and home secretary respectively. All three held these shadow posts in opposition.
Reeves has taken office against a backdrop of stagnating growth, rising public debt and the highest peacetime tax burden.
On Friday she told Treasury staff she plans to lead Britain’s most “pro-growth” finance department and support the industrial strategy that Labour hopes will bolster flagging investment. “This Treasury will play its full part in a new era of industrial strategy,” she said.
Labour pledged throughout this year’s campaign that it would not raise income tax, national insurance or VAT in government and subscribed to a set of tight fiscal rules. Yet it could still be forced to raise other taxes, borrow or cut public services if it cannot generate growth.
Wes Streeting, who was appointed health secretary on Friday, will next week meet representatives from the British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, amid hopes of breaking a deadlock that has seen junior doctors strike 11 times in England in the past two years. He met the BMA during this year’s election campaign.
Officials are increasingly confident the new government can reach a deal that falls below doctors’ demands for 35 per cent pay increase, such as an agreement to raise salaries over several years.
Speaking on Friday, Streeting said: “We promised during the campaign that we would begin negotiations as a matter of urgency, and that is what we are doing.”
He added that the policy of the new government was that the “NHS is broken”.
That they’ll take time to fix isn’t the issue. Nobody is expecting an overnight fix.
It’s that he’s now in power and we *still* don’t seem to know what he plans to do about it.
Well, he’s not campaigning any more, so free to talk about concrete proposals.
This what you get – and it proves there are no proposals that the public would want to hear.
“Broken”? Try severely underfunded.
Under Tory rule, they’ve spent without any regard to the UK.
Jets sold to the US at poundshop prices, dodgy military contacts, general doggy government contacts, and reducing our military capability, not to mention trying to fob off the disabled with one voucher for life.
Some of that happened under Blair. I wish we could rise up and over thow the current political stage and replace it with one that serves the people, not the politicians.
The Tories trashed the UK for 15 years, I’d be surprised if anyone could fix things as major as the public services in less than 5 even if they were brought back into public ownership. Probably far longer.
Translation = “you plebs get five more years of austerity while we sell off the national infrastructure to our mates at BlackRock for a bargain basement price, and when you eventually kick us out of office, we won’t give a shit because we’ll all have six figure jobs lined up”
Idk, wes streeting is drooling over the prospect of being the one to destroy the nhs and fully privatise uk healthcare, he knows how big his bank account is gonna get from private health kickbacks for getting it done
Like much longer than the one day it took for Mr migration lawyer to put his green light up on the channel to say we’re open to migrants.
Of course it well as long as we can see them getting better we will be happy.
Three days and he hasn’t fixed it yet, wtf?
Reminds of me of that time when I paid 10 quid a month for cancer research, no cure in sight!
Can y’all not fall for Tory bullshit for five minutes please?
He will do nothing and spend the next few years blaming it on the Tories. He has the perfect get out excuse seeing as they did so much damage. He will increase the tax burden blaming them despite saying it won’t happen. Quite simply we’re fucked before the election and nothings changed
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(Article)
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Britain’s newly appointed cabinet ministers have begun to arrive in Downing Street for the first meeting of Sir Keir Starmer’s top team after his decisive election victory over the Conservatives.
Having vowed to lead a government of “service” and to rebuild the electorate’s trust in politics, Starmer showed his determination to engage in a radical policy rethink by appointing several prominent experts to ministerial posts late on Friday night.
The appointments included James Timpson, a businessman noted for his campaigning work in rehabilitation, as the new prisons minister, and former government chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, who will serve as science minister. Both become peers.
Richard Hermer, a human rights lawyer, was also made a peer and appointed as attorney-general, as Starmer passed over veteran MP Emily Thornberry — who held the shadow position — for the post.
Starmer’s government, the first Labour administration in 14 years, is facing immediate challenges including settling doctors’ pay negotiations, and is expected to set out an overhaul of the planning system within days, with the aim of spurring a badly needed housebuilding boom.
As he entered Downing Street on Friday, Starmer used his first speech in office to pledge to rebuild trust between the public and politicians.
“This wound, this lack of trust, can only be healed by actions not words,” he said, promising to prioritise economic growth.
The prime minister is also preparing for next week’s Nato summit, where he will meet world leaders including Joe Biden.
On Friday the US President phoned Starmer to congratulate him on his election victory and to reaffirm “the special relationship between our nations and the importance of working together in support of freedom and democracy around the world,” the White House said.
In his first appointments in office, Starmer named Rachel Reeves, David Lammy and Yvette Cooper as chancellor, foreign and home secretary respectively. All three held these shadow posts in opposition.
Reeves has taken office against a backdrop of stagnating growth, rising public debt and the highest peacetime tax burden.
On Friday she told Treasury staff she plans to lead Britain’s most “pro-growth” finance department and support the industrial strategy that Labour hopes will bolster flagging investment. “This Treasury will play its full part in a new era of industrial strategy,” she said.
Labour pledged throughout this year’s campaign that it would not raise income tax, national insurance or VAT in government and subscribed to a set of tight fiscal rules. Yet it could still be forced to raise other taxes, borrow or cut public services if it cannot generate growth.
Wes Streeting, who was appointed health secretary on Friday, will next week meet representatives from the British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, amid hopes of breaking a deadlock that has seen junior doctors strike 11 times in England in the past two years. He met the BMA during this year’s election campaign.
Officials are increasingly confident the new government can reach a deal that falls below doctors’ demands for 35 per cent pay increase, such as an agreement to raise salaries over several years.
Speaking on Friday, Streeting said: “We promised during the campaign that we would begin negotiations as a matter of urgency, and that is what we are doing.”
He added that the policy of the new government was that the “NHS is broken”.
That they’ll take time to fix isn’t the issue. Nobody is expecting an overnight fix.
It’s that he’s now in power and we *still* don’t seem to know what he plans to do about it.
Well, he’s not campaigning any more, so free to talk about concrete proposals.
This what you get – and it proves there are no proposals that the public would want to hear.
“Broken”? Try severely underfunded.
Under Tory rule, they’ve spent without any regard to the UK.
Jets sold to the US at poundshop prices, dodgy military contacts, general doggy government contacts, and reducing our military capability, not to mention trying to fob off the disabled with one voucher for life.
Some of that happened under Blair. I wish we could rise up and over thow the current political stage and replace it with one that serves the people, not the politicians.
The Tories trashed the UK for 15 years, I’d be surprised if anyone could fix things as major as the public services in less than 5 even if they were brought back into public ownership. Probably far longer.
Translation = “you plebs get five more years of austerity while we sell off the national infrastructure to our mates at BlackRock for a bargain basement price, and when you eventually kick us out of office, we won’t give a shit because we’ll all have six figure jobs lined up”
Idk, wes streeting is drooling over the prospect of being the one to destroy the nhs and fully privatise uk healthcare, he knows how big his bank account is gonna get from private health kickbacks for getting it done
Like much longer than the one day it took for Mr migration lawyer to put his green light up on the channel to say we’re open to migrants.
Of course it well as long as we can see them getting better we will be happy.
Three days and he hasn’t fixed it yet, wtf?
Reminds of me of that time when I paid 10 quid a month for cancer research, no cure in sight!
Can y’all not fall for Tory bullshit for five minutes please?
He will do nothing and spend the next few years blaming it on the Tories.
He has the perfect get out excuse seeing as they did so much damage.
He will increase the tax burden blaming them despite saying it won’t happen.
Quite simply we’re fucked before the election and nothings changed