“Even if Keir Starmer had a radical change of direction, I don’t think people would believe him”
Left wing Labour MP Nadia Whittome has called for the prime minister Keir Starmer to be replaced and a new party leader to be chosen.
Whittome made the comments while appearing on Ali Milani’s podcast. On the podcast, Milani asked Whittome whether there needed to be ‘new leadership’. She responded by saying: “Yeah, I do. For a long time I said that we need a complete in direction in the party, and that doesn’t necessarily have to mean a new leader, as long as the current leader learns lessons. I think it’s clear that we’re way beyond that point now.
She went on to add: “I think there does have to be a new leader. I mean, even if Keir Starmer had a radical change of direction, I don’t think people would believe him, and I don’t think that the people around him would allow that to happen.
“So I think there needs to be a change of leadership, a change of personnel – of people in Number 10, and a completely different direction for the party that taxes extreme wealth, reduces the obscene wealth inequality that we’re seeing just balloon in this country, tackles poverty, funds our public services, while at the same time standing firmly against racist politics of divide and rule and the scapegoating that Reform and the Tories rely on.”
Whittome’s intervention comes as Starmer faces substantial internal pressure over the upcoming budget and the government’s recently announced policies on migration, which some Labour MPs have described as ‘desperate political posturing’.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
Image credit: UK Parliament – Creative Commons
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