If No 10 briefer is found Keir Starmer will sack them, Miliband says
Ed Miliband has said he is certain Keir Starmer will sack whoever briefed against Wes Streeting, after a chaotic 48 hours in which No 10 launched an operation to shore up the prime minister against an anticipated leadership challenge.The prime minister apologised to the health secretary in a phone call with him late on Wednesday.Starmer is facing mounting calls to sack his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, over the row.The Guardian reported that in private meetings with MPs on Wednesday, the prime minister stood by McSweeney and would not directly commit to any consequences for those who had briefed the newspapers.Starmer spoke to senior Downing Street staff on Thursday morning to stress that “briefings against cabinet ministers are completely unacceptable”, his deputy spokesperson said.
He “made abundantly clear the high standards that he expects from staff, and if anyone falls below those standards there will be consequences”, they said.“The PM said he had been assured that no No 10 staff briefed against ministers” and that he accepted the assurances.Asked why Starmer had apologised to Streeting if he did not believe the health secretary had been briefed against by No 10, the spokesperson said the PM had “apologised for the situation that the health secretary was in”.Starmer, in a TV clip recorded during a visit to north Wales, told broadcasters he had warned his team against such briefings.He said: “I have been assured it didn’t come from Downing Street, but I have been equally clear that whether it is this case or any other, I intend to deal with it.
”Asked if he would sack anyone found to have briefed, Starmer said he would “absolutely deal with anybody responsible for briefing against ministers”.Miliband said he believed Starmer would not have authorised any of the personal attacks, but said briefing was a “longstanding aspect of politics”.“I’ve talked to Keir before about this kind of briefing that happens and as he always says, if he finds the person, he’ll get rid of them.And I absolutely believe he would do that,” he told Sky News.In further attempts to contain the row, the Labour chair, Anna Turley, told ITV on Wednesday night that there would be an investigation into who had specifically briefed against Streeting and that Starmer would “take action” against the culprit.
It is not believed to be a formal leak inquiry.Miliband told Sky News that Starmer would “hate all this nonsense” but said it was a common problem in politics.“I hate the culture of briefing.But there is a longstanding aspect of politics.As I say, I was there between Blair and Brown … So look, these things unfortunately happen, but what matters is staying focused on the mission.
“Turbulence is part of the gig, is part of the DNA of being in government.What gets you through is keeping your eyes on the prize of what you care about, what you’re trying to do.”Streeting mounted a furious defence of his actions on morning shows on Wednesday, saying: “Whoever has been briefing this has been watching too much Celebrity Traitors.It’s the most unjustified attack against the faithfuls since Joe Marler was banished in the final.”However, Labour MPs were left scratching their heads at the timing of Downing Street’s intervention, which the Guardian revealed on Tuesday night, with the focus switching to whether McSweeney could survive in post.
One cabinet minister said: “If it was an orchestrated campaign to shore up the PM, then it’s had the opposite effect; it’s spectacularly backfired.I don’t see how Morgan can survive when Keir has ended up in a weaker position than before.”One minister said they thought No 10’s paranoia was partly justified.“I will defend them to a degree because everyone can see that Wes is in fact running a leadership campaign and that it has been the talk of the PLP [parliamentary Labour party].We know that.
We can see it.“But I don’t think they intended to personalise this about Wes, and that has been their great mistake.They wanted to show Keir had some fight in him and it has backfired catastrophically.”
US markets struggle amid tech sell-off and economic uncertainty
Wall Street came under pressure on Thursday, enduring its worst day in a month as a sell-off of technology stocks intensified.After an extraordinary rally around hopes for artificial intelligence that propelled global stock markets to record highs, fears that tech firms are now overvalued loom large.Investors are also braced for the release of a batch of official data on the state of the US economy, amid heightened uncertainty over its strength during the federal government shutdown.The benchmark S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average each closed down 1.7% in New York on Thursday, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite dropped 2
Atom is prematurely split in the ‘golden age’ transatlantic partnership | Nils Pratley
It had all been so harmonious two months ago. “Together with the US, we’re building a golden age of nuclear that puts both countries at the forefront of global innovation and investment,” purred the prime minister about the new “landmark” UK-US nuclear partnership.Now there’s an atomic split over the first significant decision. The UK has allocated Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, or Ynys Môn, to host three small modular reactors (SMRs) to be built by the British developer Rolls-Royce SMR. The US ambassador, Warren Stephens, says his country is “extremely disappointed”: he wanted Westinghouse, a US company, to get the gig for a large-scale reactor
AI slop tops Billboard and Spotify charts as synthetic music spreads
Three songs generated by artificial intelligence topped music charts this week, reaching the highest spots on Spotify and Billboard charts.Walk My Walk and Livin’ on Borrowed Time by the outfit Breaking Rust topped Spotify’s “Viral 50” songs in the US, which documents the “most viral tracks right now” on a daily basis, according to the streaming service. A Dutch song, We Say No, No, No to an Asylum Center, an anti-migrant anthem by JW “Broken Veteran” that protests against the creation of new asylum centers, took the top position in Spotify’s global version of the viral chart around the same time. Breaking Rust also appeared in the top five on the global chart.“You can kick rocks if you don’t like how I talk,” reads a lyric from Walk My Walk, a seeming double entendre challenging those opposed to AI-generated music
UK firms can win a significant chunk of the AI chip market | John Browne
The UK is in a uniquely promising position, far too little understood, to play a lucrative role in the coming era of artificial intelligence – but only if it also grabs the opportunity to start making millions of computer chips.AI requires vast numbers of chips and we could supply up to 5% of world demand if we get our national act together.Our legacy in chip design is world-class, starting with the first general-purpose electronic computer, the first electronic memory and the first parallel computer. Today we have Cambridge-based Arm, a quiet titan designing more than 90% of the chips powering phones and tablets globally.With such a pedigree, it is not idle daydreaming for British companies to win a significant chunk of the AI chip market; 5% is a conservative, achievable ambition
Eli Katoa’s playing future uncertain as recovery from head impacts, seizures and brain surgery continues
Melbourne Storm backrower and Tonga star Eli Katoa faces the prospect of further weeks in hospital and possibly time in a rehabilitation centre as he begins his slow recovery from brain surgery after he suffered three head knocks against New Zealand 12 days ago.The 25-year-old remains in hospital in Auckland, and alarming information provided by his club on Friday indicates there is no guarantee one of the game’s best forwards will play again.Katoa appeared to suffer a concussion in the warmup in the Pacific Championships clash two weeks ago when his head collided with Tonga teammate Lehi Hopoate.But he was allowed to play, and received two more head impacts during the game, before suffering seizures on the sideline and needing emergency surgery to release bleeding on the brain.The Storm chief executive, Justin Rodski, said Katoa’s recovery was only beginning
Donald Trump’s granddaughter Kai in last after 83 in shaky LPGA debut
Kai Trump, the US president’s granddaughter and the eldest child of Donald Trump Jr, opened her LPGA career with a 13-over-par 83 on Thursday at The Annika, a debut round that left her at the bottom of the leaderboard and underscored the chasm between elite junior golf and a field stacked with the sport’s top professionals.The 18-year-old amateur, playing on a much-discussed sponsor’s exemption, began her round on the back nine alongside former major champion Hinako Shibuno and Germany’s Olivia Cowan. She received warm applause when her name was announced on the par-4 10th tee and again after she drove it safely into the fairway, one of the few calm moments in a jittery start.Trump confessed afterward she was more nervous than when she spoke at the Republican National Convention last year and it showed. She bogeyed her opening four holes, a run of tentative strokes that left her scrambling before she had taken a fifth swing from a fairway
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