Labour could ‘go under’ with Starmer at the helm, says outgoing Unite boss
Firebrand union leader Len McCluskey has fired a vicious parting shot against Sir Keir Starmer, claiming Labour’s ship could “go under” with him at the helm.
In hard-hitting memoirs to mark his retirement, the Unite general secretary known as “Red Len” suggests Sir Keir will fail to win back the “Red Wall” seats Labour lost to the Tories in 2019.
Mr McCluskey, still Jeremy Corbyn‘s chief union cheerleader, accuses the Labour leader of struggling to inspire the public, “vapid New Labour cliches”, and an “anti-democratic crackdown on the left”.
Len McCluskey is standing down as leader of the Unite union
In the book, titled Always Red, he settles old scores with enemies in the Labour movement including Tom Watson and Gerard Coyne – the rival he narrowly defeated in an election in 2017 who is now a candidate for general secretary once again.
And Mr McCluskey also confirms one of Westminster’s worst kept secrets: that he is in a relationship with Mr Corbyn’s chief of staff Karie Murphy, who is singled out for praise several times in the book.
Writing about rumours about their “personal connection” when she went to work for Mr Corbyn, he admits to “a game of cat of mouse” with the press. “We wanted our relationship to be kept private, away from the public gaze,” he reveals.
But in the very last sentence in the book, he writes: “Finally, thank you to Karie for persuading me to write this book and giving me the love and support to see it through.”
In a highly unusual move, several pages of what the publishers call “sensitive material”, including a showdown with Sir Keir about Mr Corbyn’s suspension from Labour, have been redacted until publication next month.
An uncompromising and highly critical chapter about the Labour leader, in which Mr McCluskey questions whether he is a “babe in the woods” or “altogether more calculating”, includes no fewer than 25 blacked out paragraphs.
Mr McCluskey was a staunch ally of Jeremy Corbyn during his tenure as Labour leader
The first redaction is about a phone conversation when Sir Keir told the Unite leader he had suspended Mr Corbyn over antisemitism, followed by more than two pages about a meeting with the leader and his deputy Angela Rayner.
Mr McCluskey writes: “Angela began by requesting our discussion be confidential. Given what happened subsequently, I no longer feel bound by that.”
Then comes the two-page redaction. And he adds defiantly: “I am so confident of the account I have given here that I have submitted it for use in legal proceedings and will stand by it in court.”
In a withering verdict on Sir Keir after Mr Corbyn’s suspension, Mr McCluskey writes: “I still hoped and believed that Keir Starmer could be Prime Minister.
“But I was fearful that if he continued on the course set in his first year of leadership he would not win back the red wall seats.
“If a general election was called early, which seemed possible, Starmer would have little time to rectify his mistakes.
“He still had the opportunity to change course, unite his party around a radical platform and make the promised ‘moral case for socialism’.
“But he needed to realise that if the ship he was captaining listed too far to the right, it would go under.”
On his feud with Mr Watson, Mr McCluskey talks about “the death of a friendship” when the then Labour deputy leader pulled out of peace talks with the unions during a coup against Mr Corbyn in 2018.
The first redaction is about a phone conversation when Sir Keir Starmer told the Unite leader he had suspended Jeremy Corbyn over antisemitism
He adds: “I haven’t spoken to Tom since, save for a few barbed texts two years later when his attempt to unseat me as Unite’s general secretary failed.”
Accusing Mr Watson of “a view to doing Corbyn in” and being “duplicitous”, Mr McCluskey speculates that his motives may have been to become interim leader and maybe stay on without a contest.
“Whatever the truth, it was a squalid, ignoble way to end a valued friendship.”
On Mr Coyne, Mr McCluskey says; “There is no doubt that the 2017 Unite general secretary election was a proxy war. If they could take me down, they could take Jeremy down.
“Were it not for the group of right-wing MPs and officials sometimes dubbed the ‘West Midlands mafia’ – the likes of John Spellar, Jess Phillips and Tom Watson – I’m sure Coyne would have remained a man of no consequence.”
Accusing Mr Coyne of “pumping out lies” and a negative campaign, he writes: “It was vicious. It was horrible. It consisted almost entirely of personal attacks and smears against me.”
He also accuses his rival of being “not a good loser” and a “Trump-like crusade to overturn the election result”. But he also accuses Mr Watson of being involved in “this grubby attempt to dislodge me using underhand means”.
Mr Coyne is currently standing in the election to succeed Mr McCluskey against Steve Turner and Sharon Graham, with the result due in late August.
Keir Starmer flies out of South Africa this evening with two massive issues on his agenda – a potentially manifesto-busting budget and, as it stands, an unacceptable Ukrainian peace deal.
As he prepared to depart for London, the prime minister confirmed he was dispatching national security adviser Jonathan Powell to Geneva for talks with US officials, other European security advisers and Ukrainian representatives – as Europe and Ukraine scramble to reinsert themselves into a plan drawn up between Washington and Moscow.
The prime minister said on Saturday there was “more to do on the plan” in the coming days and the focus now was to try to make progress in Geneva.
Follow the latest: European leaders raise concerns over plan for Ukraine
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PM: ‘More to do’ on US Ukraine peace plan
After speaking on the phone to Donald Trump, Downing Street said the pair agreed their teams would work together on the US leader’s proposal in the Swiss city on Sunday.
Starmer also reiterated Britain’s “steadfast support for Ukraine” in a call with President Zelenskyy – as allies try to swing this deal more in Ukraine‘s favour, with the UK and other international leaders clear on their concerns to limit the size of the Ukrainian army and give up territory to Russia.
But in his remarks on camera, the prime minister was at pains to neither criticise the current deal nor President Trump.
One figure told me that the PM wants to act as a bridge between the Europeans and the US and has been playing a “game of whack-a-mole” over the past couple of days in an effort to keep others from publicly saying the deal is unacceptable for fear it would only serve to irritate President Trump and hurt Ukraine.
File pic: Reuters
Earlier, the prime minister said he would talk to his US counterpart in the coming days.
“I’m absolutely clear in my mind that President Trump wants a just and lasting peace, not just from the actions he’s taken towards that end, but also from the private discussions that I’ve had with him,” Mr Starmer said.
“So I know what he’s trying to achieve. We all want to achieve that.”
But there will be a question about what the alternative options are if allies cannot improve this deal by President Trump’s Thursday deadline.
The frontline in eastern Ukraine
The first option is to try to improve it and also slow down the process and buy more time, but if that fails, are allies looking at scenarios where they try to shore up Ukraine’s war efforts without the US support?
The prime minister responded by talking about point five in the 28-point plan, in which Ukraine is offered security guarantees from the US.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t step up
Starmer addresses G20 summit – but Trump boycotts talks
“That fortifies in me the belief that what we’re all trying to achieve here is a just and lasting peace will only be just as lasting if there are security guarantees,” Mr Starmer said.
“And if we bear in mind that matters for Ukraine are always to be determined by Ukraine.”
The next 24 hours will be critical as the Europeans, Ukraine and other allies try to improve this deal.
The prime minister has refused to rule out manifesto-breaking tax hikes in next week’s budget while speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby.
Sir Keir Starmer was interviewed by Rigby while the pair were in South Africa for a meeting of the G20 group of nations.
Despite the government last year indicating it was not going to raise more taxes, it appears that Wednesday’s fiscal event will involve substantial increases in levies.
The 2024 Labour manifesto said: “We will ensure taxes on working people are kept as low as possible.
“Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase national insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of income tax, or VAT.”
At the start of their interview, the prime minister was asked by Rigby if it was important for politicians to “stick to their word”.
Sir Keir said: “Yes, it is important that politicians stick to their word.
“They have to make decisions against a political backdrop. And, we’ve also got big decisions to make in the budget that’s coming in just a few days time.”
This caveat matches the expectations that a range of taxes are going to be increased so the government can keep its spending pledges and increase its fiscal headroom amid worsening economic headwinds.
There was chaos last week after the increase in income tax that many had expected to be on the way was revealed to no longer be on the cards.
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Why has chancellor U-turned on income tax rises?
Asked specifically on the manifesto commitment on tax, Sir Keir told Rigby that decisions will be made “against a very difficult backdrop”.
In total, the prime minister refused 12 times to rule out tax rises.
He added it was “important to take the right decisions for our country”.
Rigby pointed out in the lead-up to the 2024 Budget, the prime minister was more unequivocal, saying income tax, national insurance and VAT would not all go up.
The prime minister declined to make the same promise, saying the decisions on tax will be announced on Wednesday.
Read more:
Did Reeves pull of something extraordinary?
Government borrowing higher than expected
Will energy bills be made cheaper?
However, Sir Keir said the budget will be guided by “principles”, including “fairness”.
The prime minister said the three areas he is “bearing down on” are the NHS, cutting national debt and dealing with the cost of living crisis.
One tax rise that has not been ruled out is what is known as a “stealth tax rise” of freezing income tax thresholds.
Rigby highlighted that in last year’s budget, Rachel Reeves said freezing thresholds will “hurt working people” – and asked the prime minister if he agreed.
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Sir Keir said: “We are going to set out our decisions.
“We will have absolutely in mind that the cost of living is the number one issue for people across the country.”
Pushed again, if working people will have their taxes increased, the prime minister instead mentioned he has people who are “struggling with the cost of living” in mind when making decisions.
Khurram Dara, a former policy lawyer at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, officially launched his campaign for New York State Attorney General.
In a Friday notice, Dara cited his āregulatory and policy experience, particularly in the crypto and fintech spaceā among his reasons to try to unseat Attorney General Letitia James in 2026.
The former Coinbase lawyer had been hinting since August at potential plans to run for office, claiming that James had engaged in ālawfareā against the crypto industry in New York.
Until July, Dara was the regulatory and policy principal at Bain Capital Crypto, the digital asset arm of the investment company. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked as Coinbaseās policy counsel from June 2022 to January 2023 and was previously employed at the crypto companies Fluidity and Airswap.
James, who took office in 2019, has faced criticism from many in the crypto industry for filing lawsuits against companies on behalf of affected New Yorkers, including Genesis, KuCoin and NovaTech. Whoever assumes the role of New Yorkās attorney general would have significant discretion over whether to file charges against crypto companies.
Related: New York AG urges Congress to bolster protections in crypto bills
Dara, who said he plans to run as a Republican, also echoed Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdaniās recent winning campaign, citing New Yorkersā concerns about the cost of living and affordability. Cointelegraph reached out to Dara for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
The lawyer who represented XRP holders is also running for office again
As the deadline approached for candidates for various offices to announce their runs, former Massachusetts senatorial candidate John Deaton said he would try to unseat a Democrat again.Ā
Deaton ran against Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2024, losing by about 700,000 votes. On Nov. 10, however, he announced he would run as a Republican again, attempting to unseat Senator Ed Markey in 2026.
Deaton gained recognition in the crypto industry by advocating on behalf of XRP holders in the US Securities and Exchange Commissionās lawsuit against Ripple.
Like Dara, Deaton will be running in a race that largely favors Democrats: The last Republican to win a US Senate seat for Massachusetts was in 2010. Both candidates are expected to face competition in their respective Republican primaries.
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