Sir Keir Starmer says he is “prepared to be ruthless” to ensure Labour wins the next election, including when it comes to his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.
Earlier this week, Sir Keir put forward a motion to Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), to block Mr Corbyn from running for the party at the next general election – which was passed by a majority of its members.
But speaking as he launched Labour’s local election campaign in Swindon, Sir Keir said: “There is one person who is responsible for the fact that Jeremy Corbyn will not be a Labour candidate at the next election and that is Jeremy Corbyn.”
Mr Corbyn – who ran Labour between 2015 and 2019 – was suspended over his response to a report in antisemitism within the membership, which said the party had broken the law in its handling of complaints.
He said the issue had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media”.
More on Labour
Related Topics:
Sir Keir said those who considered the problem to be exaggerated were also “part of the problem… and should be nowhere near the Labour Party”.
While Mr Corbyn was eventually allowed back into the Labour membership, the new leader refused to allow him to return to the parliamentary party, leaving him sat as an independent – with his future in the Commons now in doubt after the next national vote.
Advertisement
Image: Starmer served in Corbyn’s cabinet as shadow Brexit secretary
Asked by Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby if he felt bad about blocking his successor from being a Labour candidate, having once described him as “a friend”, Sir Keir said: “The first words I said as Labour leader is I would root out antisemitism in my party and I have been absolutely ruthless in that.
“There is always more work to do but I set out to change the Labour Party and to change it in relation to antisemitism. I said I’d root it out and I am delivering on that pledge.”
But would voters question whether he could be trusted because, as Beth Rigby put it, he stabbed his former leader in the front?
“We went into that 2019 election and the electorate gave their verdict on the Labour Party as it then was,” said Sir Keir.
“I took the view that you don’t look at the electorate and say ‘what on earth were you doing’ – you look at your own party and say ‘we need to change’.
“Whether it is rooting out anti-Semitism, being absolutely clear we are pro business, pro NATO, and facing the voters and being fit to serve the country.
“I make no apologies for that because what I want is a Labour government and only with a Labour Party that is facing the voters, that is answering the difficult challenges of the future, do we get the right to be heard and to earn those votes that we need to get a Labour government.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:33
Sky News asked Corbyn about his future
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy backed the decision earlier, despite his friendship with with Mr Corbyn.
Speaking to the Beth Rigby Interviews programme, which airs on Sky News at 9pm tonight, Mr Lammy said: “It’s not about friendship.
“No one ever said that politics sometimes hasn’t got to be brutal.
“It was an important decision, I think, for both Keir Starmer to take when he took over the Labour Party to be absolutely clear that we would get rid of that antisemitism, and for the NEC to take.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:00
‘But Corbyn is your friend, isn’t he?’
Asking the Labour leader whether he was willing to be ruthless to win, Sir Keir told Beth Rigby: “I am prepared to be ruthless to ensure that we have a Labour government.
“I have been ruthless in the change in the Labour Party, I do not apologise for that, because what matters most to me is that the change that millions of people desperately need across our country comes about, but that will only come about if I ensure that we have got a Labour Party that is fit to face the future, fit to face the voters and has the answers to the difficult challenges that face the country.”
‘Mr 1%’
Earlier today at the launch, Sir Keir branded Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “Mr 1%” as he attacked the Conservative government’s record on tax cuts and the asylum backlog.
“Communities want a government that matches their ambition and they aren’t going to get it from this prime minister,” he said.
“Mr 1% – 1% of asylum claims from those arriving on small boats actually processed. 1% of the fraud that was lost during COVID actually recovered.
“0% of the windfall tax that could have helped working people actually collected.”
The Labour leader also criticised the government’s tax policy, which he said awarded “tax cuts for the richest 1% while working people pay the price”.
In the long Gaza war, this is a significant moment.
For the people of Gaza, for the hostages and their families – this could be the moment it ends. But we have been here before, so many times.
The key question – will Hamas accept what Israel has agreed to: a 60-day ceasefire?
At the weekend, a source at the heart of the negotiations told me: “Both Hamas and Israel are refusing to budge from their position – Hamas wants the ceasefire to last until a permanent agreement is reached. Israel is opposed to this. At this point only President Trump can break this deadlock.”
The source added: “Unless Trump pushes, we are in a stalemate.”
The problem is that the announcement made now by Donald Trump – which is his social-media-summarised version of whatever Israel has actually agreed to – may just amount to Israel’s already-established position.
We don’t know the details and conditions attached to Israel’s proposals.
Would Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza? Totally? Or partially? How many Palestinian prisoners would they agree to release from Israel’s jails? And why only 60 days? Why not a total ceasefire? What are they asking of Hamas in return? We just don’t know the answers to any of these questions, except one.
We do know why Israel wants a 60-day ceasefire, not a permanent one. It’s all about domestic politics.
If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to agree now to a permanent ceasefire, the extreme right-wingers in his coalition would collapse his government.
Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have both been clear about their desire for the war to continue. They hold the balance of power in Mr Netanyahu’s coalition.
If Mr Netanyahu instead agrees to just 60 days – which domestically he can sell as just a pause – then that may placate the extreme right-wingers for a few weeks until the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, is adjourned for the summer.
It is also no coincidence that the US president has called for Mr Netanyahu’s corruption trial to be scrapped.
Without the prospect of jail, Mr Netanyahu might be more willing to quit the war safe in the knowledge that focus will not shift immediately to his own political and legal vulnerability.
The Women’s Euros begin in Switzerland today – with extreme heat warnings in place.
Security measures have had to be relaxed by UEFA for the opening matches so fans can bring in water bottles.
Temperatures could be about 30C (86F) when the Swiss hosts open their campaign against Norway in Basel this evening.
Players have already seen the impact of heatwaves this summer at the men’s Club World Cup in the US.
Image: The Spain squad pauses for refreshments during a training session. Pic: AP
It is raising new concerns in the global players’ union about whether the stars of the sport are being protected in hot and humid conditions.
FIFPRO has asked FIFA to allow cooling breaks every 15 minutes rather than just in the 30th minute of each half.
There’s also a request for half-time to be extended from 15 to 20 minutes to help lower the core temperature of players.
More on Football
Related Topics:
FIFPRO’s medical director, Dr Vincent Gouttebarge, said: “There are some very challenging weather conditions that we anticipated a couple of weeks ago already, that was already communicated to FIFA.
“And I think the past few weeks were confirmation of all worries that the heat conditions will play a negative role for the performance and the health of the players.”
Football has seemed focused on players and fans baking in the Middle East – but scorching summers in Europe and the US are becoming increasingly problematic for sport.
Image: England are the tournament’s defending champions. Pic: AP
While climate change is a factor, the issue is not new and at the 1994 World Cup, players were steaming as temperatures rose in the US.
There is now more awareness of the need for mitigation measures among players and their international union.
FIFPRO feels football officials weren’t responsive when it asked for kick-off times to be moved from the fierce afternoon heat in the US for the first 32-team Club World Cup.
FIFA has to balance the needs of fans and broadcasters with welfare, with no desire to load all the matches in the same evening time slots.
Electric storms have also seen six games stopped, including a two-hour pause during a Chelsea game at the weekend.
This is the dress rehearsal for the World Cup next summer, which is mostly in the US.
Image: Players are also feeling the heat at the Club World Cup. Pic: AP
The use of more indoor, air conditioned stadiums should help.
There is no prospect of moving the World Cup to winter, as Qatar had to do in 2022.
And looking further ahead to this time in 2030, there will be World Cup matches in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The temperatures this week have been hitting 40C (104F) in some host cities.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:08
Wildfires erupt in Italy and France amid heatwave
FIFA said in a statement to Sky News: “Heat conditions are a serious topic that affect football globally.
“At the FCWC some significant and progressive measures are being taken to protect the players from the heat. For instance, cooling breaks were implemented in 31 out of 54 matches so far.
“Discussions on how to deal with heat conditions need to take place collectively and FIFA stands ready to facilitate this dialogue, including through the Task Force on Player Welfare, and to receive constructive input from all stakeholders on how to further enhance heat management.
“In all of this, the protection of players must be at the centre.”
Around 14 million people could die across the world over the next five years because of cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers have warned.
Children under five are expected to make up around a third (4.5 million) of the mortalities, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.
Estimates showed that “unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030”.
“Beyond causing millions of avoidable deaths – particularly among the most vulnerable – these cuts risk reversing decades of progress in health and socioeconomic development in LMICs [low and middle-income countries],” the report said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:21
March: ‘We are going to lose children’: Fears over USAID cuts in Kenya
USAID programmes have prevented the deaths of more than 91 million people, around a third of them among children, the study suggests.
The agency’s work has been linked to a 65% fall in deaths from HIV/AIDS, or 25.5 million people.
Eight million deaths from malaria, more than half the total, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases and nearly five million from tuberculosis (TB), have also been prevented.
USAID has been vital in improving global health, “especially in LMICs, particularly African nations,” according to the report.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:24
Queer HIV activist on Trump and Musk’s USAID cuts
Established in 1961, the agency was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and helping economic growth in developing countries, especially those deemed strategic to Washington.
But the Trump administration has made little secret of its antipathy towards the agency, which became an early victim of cuts carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – formerly led by Elon Musk – in what the US government said was part of a broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:35
What is USAID?
In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said more than 80% of USAID schemes had been closed following a six-week review, leaving around 1,000 active.
The US is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, providing around $61bn (£44bn) in foreign assistance last year, according to government data, or at least 38% of the total, and USAID is the world’s leading donor for humanitarian and development aid, the report said.
Between 2017 and 2020, the agency responded to more than 240 natural disasters and crises worldwide – and in 2016 it sent food assistance to more than 53 million people across 47 countries.
The study assessed all-age and all-cause mortality rates in 133 countries and territories, including all those classified as low and middle-income, supported by USAID from 2001 to 2021.