Diane Abbott to stand for Labour in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, party confirms

Published

5 months ago

June 4, 2024

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The Labour Party has confirmed that Diane Abbott is standing as a candidate for the party in Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), which is in charge of final approval of election candidates, has given the go-ahead for the veteran MP to stand on 4 July in the seat she has held for 37 years.

It published the list of approved Labour candidates for the election on Tuesday lunchtime ahead of the deadline for all nominations on Friday afternoon.

A Labour source told Sky News three members of the NEC panel raised the treatment of Ms Abbott when discussing candidates.

The decision comes after a week of confusion over Ms Abbott’s future in the Labour Party since she was suspended from the party last year for suggesting that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice rather than racism.

She apologised soon after the letter was published.

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After days of confusion, including on Ms Abbott’s part, Sir Keir Starmer said last week it was not up to him to decide if she could stand, as it was up to the NEC panel.

Ms Abbott had said she understood she had been barred from standing. But eventually, the Labour leader said she would be allowed to stand for the party.

Ms Abbott, the UK’s first female black MP, had accused Sir Keir of carrying out a “cull of left-wingers” after Faiza Shaheen was unexpectedly blocked from standing for Labour last week.

Former Labour leader and close friend of Ms Abbott’s Jeremy Corbyn, who was expelled from the party and is standing as an independent in neighbouring Islington North, told Sky News Sir Keir is “clearly intervening” in a “purge” of left-wing candidates.

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On Sunday, Ms Abbott said she “intends to run and win” following speculation she may choose to stand down.

She then wrote on social media: “More lies from Starmer”, with a link to an article by the Labour leader’s biographer Tom Baldwin headlined: “Starmer on Abbott: ‘I’ve actually got more respect for Diane than she probably realises’.”

Reacting to that accusation ahead of the final decision by the NEC on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: “Look, we’ve dealt with the Diane Abbott issue. I made the position absolutely clear last week when I said she was free to run for the election.

“She’s one of the candidates that we now put before the electorate.”

Asked if he had spoken to her, he said: “I’ve spoken to Diane two or three months ago. My team have obviously been speaking to her, but that decision is taken.”

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Part of the “cull” Ms Abbott and Mr Corbyn spoke about included the suspension last week of Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who has been the MP for Brighton Kemptown since 2017.

On Monday, seven Labour councillors from Slough resigned from the Labour Party after claiming they had been “betrayed” by the party’s leadership.

They said they had “profound disillusionment and anger” over Labour’s treatment of Ms Abbott and Ms Shaheen, its position on the war in Gaza, and at Slough’s Labour candidate Tan Dhesi.

Politics

NHS league tables and cancelled pay rises for managers among government health reforms

Published

4 hours ago

November 13, 2024

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NHS league tables and cancelled pay rises for managers among government health reforms

NHS league tables revealing failing NHS trusts and cancelled pay rises or dismissal for managers who don’t turn things around are to form part of the government’s plans to improve the health service.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is confirming new measures he hopes will boost failing hospital trusts and encourage successful ones.

The changes form part of the Labour government’s strategy to reduce waiting lists “from 18 months to 18 weeks”.

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Health and the state of the NHS were consistently among the most important issues for voters at this year’s general election – with Labour blaming the Conservatives for “breaking” it.

As health is a devolved area, any reforms proposed in Westminster would only apply to England.

Chief among Mr Streeting’s proposals is a “league table” for NHS trusts.

An announcement from the Department for Health and Social Care said: “NHS England will carry out a no-holds-barred sweeping review of NHS performance across the entire country, with providers to be placed into a league table.

“This will be made public and regularly updated to ensure leaders, policy-makers and patients know which improvements need to be prioritised.”

It also promises to replace “persistently failing managers” – with “turn around teams” being sent in to improve trusts running sizeable deficits or offering poor service to patients.

The government says “senior managers” who fail to make progress will not be eligible for pay rises.

There will be “financial implications” for more senior figures such as chief executives if their trust does not improve.

On the flip-side, those trusts that are deemed to be “high-performing” will get “greater freedom over funding and flexibility”.

Senior leaders at these trusts will also be “rewarded”.

The government says the current system is not incentivising trusts to run a budget surplus, as they cannot benefit from it.

Mr Streeting said: “The budget showed this government prioritises the NHS, providing the investment needed to rebuild the health service.

“Today we are announcing the reforms to make sure every penny of extra investment is well spent and cuts waiting times for patients.

“There’ll be no more turning a blind eye to failure. We will drive the health service to improve, so patients get more out of it for what taxpayers put in.

“Our health service must attract top talent, be far more transparent to the public who pay for it, and run as efficiently as global businesses.

“With the combination of investment and reform, we will turn the NHS around and cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks.”

Concerns from health representatives

Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, said: “While NHS leaders welcome accountability, it is critical that responsibility comes with the necessary support and development.

“The extensive package of reforms, developed together with government, will empower all leaders working in the NHS and it will give them the tools they need to provide the best possible services for our patients.”

Further plans on how monitoring will be published by the start of the next financial year in April 2025, the government said.

Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation – a body that represents all NHS trusts – said healthcare leaders welcome the “government’s ambition”.

However, he said he was concerned league tables and reducing pay may “strip out” the nuance of what’s going on.

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Mr Taylor said: “NHS staff are doing their very best for patients under very challenging circumstances and we do not want them feeling like they are being named and shamed.

“League tables in themselves do not lead to improvement, trusts struggling with consistent performance issues – some of which reflect contextual issues such as underlying population heath and staff shortages – need to be identified and supported in order to recover.”