David Lammy defends ‘young’ Labour government as poll shows most people think they are sleazy
David Lammy has said the government is “young” after Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray resigned and a new poll found most people think the government is “sleazy”.
The foreign secretary said Ms Gray was a “superb public servant” after she quit on Sunday following weeks of briefings against her, including her salary being leaked.
After she stepped down less than 100 days into Labour’s premiership, Mr Lammy said: “It’s a young government and we get on with the work ahead of us.”
He thanked Ms Gray for her service and congratulated her on her new job as the PM’s envoy for the UK’s nations and regions.
Ms Gray stepped down after her perceived power and abilities were attacked by other Number 10 staff and civil servants who accused her of not having a handle on the damaging freebies row.
There were also reports of other special advisers having their pay kept down to the same levels as when they were in opposition, but now have much larger jobs, while Ms Gray was paid £170,000 – more than the PM.
She said she resigned because it was “clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction”.
Sir Keir Starmer and Sue Gray. Pic: Rex/Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Following weeks of the row over freebies taken by Sir Keir and his top team, a new poll found six in 10 Britons (59%) now describe the Labour government as “sleazy”.
The YouGov poll, published on Monday, also found half (53%) of Britons expected Labour to behave well over standards.
Three in 10 Labour voters (30%) describe the government as sleazy, although six in 10 (59%) Conservative voters say the same of the 2019-2024 Conservative government.
Read more:
Analysis: PM and his team have a serious stabilisation job to do now
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will there be another cabinet reshuffle?
Disappointment is fairly uniform across parties, with 45% of Conservatives saying they expected Labour to behave better, 42% of Labour voters and 45% of Lib Dem voters.
Just a third of Labour voters (34%) say the new government has behaved as well as they thought it would.
When comparing Sir Keir Starmer with his predecessor, Rishi Sunak, the Labour leader comes off worse, with 35% saying Sir Keir is sleazier than Mr Sunak.
A total of 28% think Mr Sunak was sleazier than Sir Keir, and 23% view them as equally as sleazy as each other.
👉 Tap here to follow Politics at Jack and Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts 👈
Two thirds of Britons (66%) think it is unacceptable for politicians to receive complimentary concert or sports tickets, as Sir Keir and several of his cabinet have done.
But more than eight in 10 Britons (84%) feel it is wrong for party donors to be awarded peerages, as Boris Johnson attempted to do to Tory donor Stuart Marks.
Last week, Sir Keir repaid £6,000 worth of tickets he had taken since becoming prime minister.
YouGov surveyed 2,084 adults across Great Britain from 3-4 October.
Kemi Badenoch has denied the Conservatives would consider means testing the pensions triple lock, as she accused her opponents of trying to “scare people”.
The Tory leader sought to clarify remarks she made on LBC on Thursday evening, which were interpreted as her leaving the door open to means testing the system that guarantees the state pension rises in line with average earnings, inflation or 2.5% – whichever is highest.
The Conservatives have long championed the triple lock – introduced by former chancellor George Osborne during the coalition government – but some senior Conservatives have recently hinted that it might not be sustainable in the long term.
Politics latest: Reform and Tories ‘desperate’ in approach to Trump
Ms Badenoch told LBC her party would look at “means testing” – something she said “we don’t do properly here” – in response to a question about the triple lock.
Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK were quick to seize on Ms Badenoch’s comments, claiming the Tory leader would “cut your state pension”.
However, the Tory leader posted on X that she was referring to means testing generally rather than with specific regards to the triple lock.
‘Bungling Badenoch’: Tory pension proposal triggers political pile-on
From criticising “excessive” maternity pay to describing herself as becoming “working class” while working at McDonald’s – not to mention slamming sandwiches as “not real food” (compared to a desktop steak), Kemi Badenoch is never one to shy away from controversy.
Supporters argue this straight-talking directness is a key part of her appeal. But it also gets her into trouble.
On an LBC phone-in last night she was asked what she wanted to do for younger voters fed up with the triple lock on state pensions (which means they go up every year by 2.5%, inflation, or average earnings – whichever is higher).
Her response was to suggest “we’re going to look at means testing” as “we don’t have a system that knows who should get what”.
The idea that the Tories might not be religiously committed to a universal triple lock has led to a political pile-on.
It’s unclear what exactly means testing the triple lock would work in practice; it’s clearly not a developed policy yet (indeed, Ms Badenoch argues the party shouldn’t be focused on specific policies so soon after their drubbing at the last election).
Politicians on all sides have criticised the triple lock before, with the shadow chancellor Mel Stride previously describing it as “unsustainable” and the new pensions minister Torsten Bell as “messy” in his previous role at the Resolution Foundation thinktank.
But Labour are adamant that they would never abandon the triple lock.
Somehow, the Conservative attack on the government’s treatment of pensioners over the winter fuel allowance has become a big question mark over the Tories’ commitment to a promise which has become totemic with many of their core voters.
“Labour punished poor pensioners, snatching away winter fuel payments due to poor means testing,” she said.
“We need better mechanisms, not proxies like pension credit or free school meals. So why are Labour, Reform, and Lib Dems pretending we’re cancelling the triple lock? They’re scared.”
She continued: “In the clip attached, I say ‘no’ to looking at the triple lock.
“But we do need to deliver better means testing. Big tech and supermarkets know more than the government about its citizens. It’s time to change the system for the better. Let’s do this for the next generation.”
On Friday morning, Nigel Huddleston, the Tory party’s co-chair, defended Ms Badenoch and said means testing was very different to scrapping it all together.
Read more:
Pensions triple lock adds £11bn a year to public spending
MP Mike Amesbury admits punching man
Speaking to Matt Barbet on Sky News Breakfast, Mr Huddleston said: “What Kemi said yesterday in answer to the triple lock… the first word out of her mouth was ‘no’.
“What she talked about yesterday in an interview was about means testing, and this is something she has commented on before, in the context of, for example, winter fuel.
“And she said, look, millionaires probably shouldn’t get it. Millionaires, not millions of pensioners – millionaires.
“We probably do need to look at means testing at some of those levels, and I don’t think many viewers would disagree with that.”
Macro investor and asset manager Dan Tapiero explains how Trump’s policies and the DOGE initiative might fuel explosive crypto growth.
Some industry insiders who spent millions to support the US president-elect’s party and fund his inauguration will likely have a good view of the Capitol Building on Jan. 20.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports10 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway