UK politics live: Starmer has lost the country and should resign as PM, says former Labour ally – UK Times

Catherine West said women in the Labour Party need to stand against Sir Keir Starmer.

Ms West told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I say to the women of the Parliamentary Labour Party, don’t just allow the men to stand.

“I think we need to modernise. I think we’re looking very dated and I think we need to energise our communications and I think we need to repair our relationship with the Civil Service.”

The deputy leader of Reform UK Scotland has accused other parties at Holyrood of “political posturing” by not engaging in talks with the party.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, First Minister John Swinney said he would not be inviting Reform UK to talks at the Scottish Government headquarters in St Andrew’s house.

Previous housing secretary and newly elected SNP MSP for Clydesdale Mairi McAllan doubled down on Mr Swinney’s comments while speaking on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show.

She said: “I think there are a portion of Reform voters who have voted for Reform this time because they’re either angry or because they’ve been made to feel scared.

“We will speak directly to them and work to improve their lives so they no longer have to feel that way.

“But we will not deal with the likes of Malcolm Offord and his acolytes in the Parliament.”

Reform UK won their first seats in the Scottish Parliament, coming in joint second place with Labour after the Holyrood elections.

Asked if he would have invited Reform in for talks had Labour won the election, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said “no”.

Reform UK Scotland’s deputy leader Thomas Kerr said the comments were “political posturing and “anti-democratic”.

He said: “We’ve not even stepped foot in the chamber yet. These are politicians who are doing political posturing before we’ve even stepped foot in the chambers of the Holyrood Parliament.”

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports:

Two senior MPs on the left of the Labour Party from the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG) have said they are unhappy with Catherine West’s bid to remove Keir Starmer as leader.

The SCG has previously made it clear that it wants Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to return to Westminster to replace Sir Keir.

However in a statement SCG chair Richard Burgon, a leading critic of Sir Keir, said that Ms West wants “a palace coup” which he cannot support.

He said: “I do understand Catherine West’s deep frustrations. They are shared by a large number of MPs and Labour members who feel we cannot go on like this and that Keir needs to go – as I have also called for.

“But I can’t support the proposals she explained on TV this morning. Catherine’s stated preference is for a Cabinet stitch-up – a kind of palace coup.

“That would mean the very people who sat back and allowed terrible decisions like the winter fuel and disability cuts to happen end up deciding the future of the party. That will not be seen by the public as a clean break.”

He called for Sir Keir to set a date for his departure followed by a “full and proper democratic process”, involving all MPs, made unions and party members – not just the cabinet.

Earlier, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell also called for a democratic process.He said: “Catherine West is reflecting the upset in her constituency where so many seats were lost but I don’t think this is right approach. We need to discuss how we go forward & I worry some in shadows want to exploit her concerns and bounce us before we have a proper democratic process.”

Richard Tice refused to say whether Nigel Farage had received any further large donations that had not been declared on Sunday morning.

The Reform leader was referred to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner by the Conservatives after it emerged he had received a £5m previously undeclared gift from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire in 2024.

Asked on Sunday whether there are any other undeclared gifts, Mr Tice told the BBC: “I look after my own finances, and Nigel looks after his.”

Anna Turley MP, chair of the Labour Party, said the response shows “Farage and his MPs clearly believe there’s one rule for them and another for everyone else”.

She said: “Reform have consistently attempted to dodge scrutiny. Deputy leader Richard Tice still refuses to answer over his own tax scandal. Reform are simply riding roughshod over public trust in politics.”

Richard Tice has dismissed questions raised about a £5 million donation given to Nigel Farage as a “smear”.

The Reform leader was referred to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner by the Conservatives after it emerged he had received the previously undeclared gift from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire in 2024.

But asked about the donation on Sunday, the party’s deputy leader dismissed the issue as a “smear”.

“You keep on with this trying to smear us, and sneer us and libel us. We’re sick of it, and the voters are sick of it.

“They’ve literally delivered a massive, massive rebuttal against the establishment media, and they said we want more Reform, more Reform-led councils doing great work.”

The Independent’s Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

Allies of Catherine West say she has had “lots of expressions of interest” from MPs since laying down her leadership challenge.

She will seek the 80 names needed to run if no other Labour leadership hopeful comes forward by tomorrow. So far no leadership rival is understood to have indicated to her that they intend to stand, meaning her Monday deadline is still on.

One ally said: “She has had an awful lot of expressions of interest since she announced.” They added that they expected those to harden on Monday “when it becomes official”.

MP Catherine West said she will formally start name gathering after waiting to hear Sir Keir Starmer’s speech on Monday.

Ms West told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I will hear what the Prime Minister’s got to say tomorrow and, then if I’m still dissatisfied, I will put out my email to the Parliamentary Labour Party, asking for names. And the reason I’m doing that is not for me. It’s for working people, because Labour is the only party that can beat Reform.”

When asked if she believes she will get the numbers behind her, she added: “We will find out when I put out my email to the Parliamentary Labour Party, but what we need is that timetable from the chair of the party, and she and I are very good friends, she knows, I’ve asked her for an orderly transition into a leadership election, which will allow us to make the case to the country, as well as to our colleagues, so that we can go forward.”

John McDonnell has warned Catherine West’s urgency to oust Sir Keir Starmer from office could put “proper democratic process” at risk.

The former Labour shadow chancellor and current MP for Hayes & Harlington said he did not think Ms West’s approach was right.

“Catherine West is reflecting the upset in her constituency where so many seats were lost but I don’t think this is right approach,” he wrote on X.

“We need to discuss how we go forward & I worry some in shadows want to exploit her concerns and bounce us before we have a proper democratic process.”

Mr McDonnell has been critical of Sir Keir’s leadership, and said yesterday that he “will need to put party & country first in judging whether he is risking opening door to Farage”.

A former minister and Starmer ally has become the latest Labour MP to call for the prime minister to resign.

Josh Simons, who was as Cabinet Office minister until a few weeks ago, declared Sir Keir has “lost the country” as he called on him to set out a timetable for his departure from No 10.

“This is bigger than any one person. All of us must be honest about these challenges, including those vying to replace the prime minister. We need radicalism, energy, and immense courage,” he wrote in the Sunday Times.

“Putting the people I represent and the country I love first, I do not believe the prime minister can rise to this moment. He has lost the country. He should take control of the situation by overseeing an orderly transition to a new prime minister.”

Mr Simons was forced to resign in March amid a probe into claims a Labour think tank he once ran paid for an investigation to “smear” journalists.