Four in 10 voters think Labor’s policy on Brexit is to join the European Union, according to a new poll that poses a headache for Sir Keir Starmer.
A survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that 41% of those polled believe Labor wants to bring the UK back into the bloc.
Meanwhile, 20% said the party had no clear policy on Brexit and 23% said they did not know what the party’s policy was.
Only 16 percent of respondents correctly identified that Labor’s policy was to stay out of the EU.
The figures, collected in a survey conducted on June 17 and published yesterday, suggest Sir Keir’s Brexit message is not getting through. Sir Keir has repeatedly said that under a Labor government the UK will not join the EU.
He said in May this year that Britain’s ‘future is outside the EU’ as he ruled out joining the single market or customs union and said there was no would have no return to freedom of movement.
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09:54 BST
Union leader won’t commit to accepting recommended pay rise for teachers
Sir Keir Starmer would not commit to accepting pay rises recommended for teachers by independent pay review bodies.
The Labor leader told LBC Radio: ‘I’m not going to commit to a percentage when I haven’t seen the recommendation…’
Asked why he couldn’t commit to accepting whatever was recommended, Sir Keir replied: ‘Because all these issues are always resolved by negotiation around the table.’
09:35 BST
Starmer says first contact with Sue Gray about job role was a ‘short chat’
Sir Keir Starmer said his first contact with Sue Gray about her potential to become his chief of staff was just a “short chat”.
The former senior civil servant is expected to take office in September after being cleared to start by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba).
A separate Cabinet Office investigation found Ms Gray broke Whitehall rules by failing to declare contact with Sir Keir. They had discussed the role in October last year.
Sir Keir told LBC Radio: “It was a short call. It was towards the end of October and I phoned Sue, I’ve known Sue for several years, she’s a phenomenal woman.
“I was looking for a chief of staff and the conversation I had with her, which was a short conversation, which is ‘I’m looking for a chief of staff, if you were to leave public service, is that something you could consider ?’.
“Because I knew the rules, she knew the rules and we left it at that. I didn’t speak to him again, that was all.
“The only caveat is that when the leak happened and she decided to pull out, just before she pulled out, I called her to make sure she was okay and to find out what she was doing. .”
09:18 BST
Starmer: Sadiq Khan has ‘no choice’ but to expand Ulez outside of London
Sir Keir Starmer said Sadiq Khan had ‘no choice’ but to extend Ulez’s broadcast program outside London amid a Labor row over the issue.
Danny Beales, the party’s candidate in the Uxbridge by-election, said now was “not the right time to expand Ulez into the outskirts of London” in a direct challenge to the Labor mayor of London.
Sir Keir was asked on a conference call on LBC Radio this morning if he supported the rollout and he said: ‘I accept that the mayor has no choice but to go ahead because of the legal obligation incumbent upon him. [to improve air quality]. I think Danny is right to stand up for his constituents.
Asked again if he supported the deployment, the Labor leader said: ‘I understand the pain this is going to inflict.
Pushed again if he supported expansion, Sir Keir said: “I don’t think there is an alternative. I looked, as you would expect, I looked at the legal provision because if there was wiggle room, but in the end…”
He added: ‘I’ve looked at it myself, I’ve looked at the legal provision, I think it’s hard to just say you can ignore the legal obligation to do something about it, so the mayor, in all fairness, is between a rock and a hard place at that.
09:05 BST
Labor extends lead over Tories to 21 points
Labor has extended its lead in the polls over the Conservatives to 21 points, according to a new poll released this morning by Techne UK.
The poll, taken between July 5 and 6, puts Labor at 47% and the Conservatives at 26%.
Labor was up one point and the Tories down one point from the previous poll taken between June 28-29.
The Liberal Democrats were down one point at 10% and the Reform, Green Party and SNP were all unchanged at 6%, 5% and 3%.
08:45 BST
‘Unable to say’ whether government will accept recommended pay rise for teachers
An education minister said it was “unclear” whether the government would accept pay rise recommendations from independent pay review bodies.
Robert Halfon, who was asked if ministers could overturn teachers’ pay review recommendations, told Sky News: ‘Let’s find out what the pay review body is saying first.
“The message from the government is that we need to be as fair as possible, given the very difficult economic circumstances – remember we still have £2trillion in debt partly because of the £400bn spent on Covid, we’ve got the billions of pounds being spent on helping people with the cost of living and lowering energy bills.
“We need to be as fair as possible to teachers and support staff, I totally understand that. But we have to be fair to the taxpayer and make sure we also fight inflation, as it is the biggest tax on the cost of living – it would affect everyone, teachers and support staff included.
Pressed on whether ministers had changed their position in recent months on accepting pay review recommendations, Mr Halfon replied: ‘You are asking what is impossible to say at this stage. The remuneration review bodies will publish, the Government will make its decision in due time. »
08:38 BST
Senior Tory MP ‘has been the subject of 50 inappropriate incidents’ over 10 years in Commons
A senior Tory MP has said she has been the victim of around 50 inappropriate or frightening incidents in Parliament since joining the House of Commons in 2010.
Caroline Nokes, chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee and a former minister, also said there were people in Parliament she would not share a lift with because of concerns about their behaviour.
When asked in an interview on BBC Newsnight how many inappropriate, strange or scary incidents she had experienced since becoming an MP, Ms Nokes said: ‘Many. I wouldn’t be able to put a number on that.
When asked if it was over 20 or 50, she replied: “Definitely over 20, probably in the region of 50 and I can think of incidents where a member of the House of Lords in a restaurant said hello to me, walked past, turned around, came back and stroked my bare arm in the presence of a reporter.
“I can think of other incidents where a Labor MP patted me on the back and told me I had done well losing the weight. In this case he seemed as shocked as I was and clearly immediately regretted what he had done. But other incidents where co-workers put their hands on my thigh and told me at length how their wives didn’t understand them. It’s just awful.”
When asked if there were certain people she wouldn’t share an elevator with, she replied, “Yeah, there are. There is. And what I think is really telling is that women parliamentarians will support each other, provide each other with information about who to trust, who not to trust, who we think is a bit scary.
08:21 GMT
Poll: 4 in 10 voters think Labor wants to bring the UK back into the EU
Four in 10 voters think Labor’s policy on Brexit is to join the European Union, according to a new poll that poses a headache for Sir Keir Starmer.
A survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that 41% of those polled believe Labor wants to bring the UK back into the bloc.
Meanwhile, 20% said the party did not have a clear policy on Brexit and 23% said they did not know what the party’s policy was.
Only 16 percent of respondents correctly identified that Labor’s policy was to stay out of the EU.
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