Several Labour MPs in talks with Greens about defecting to the party, sources say
Several Labour MPs are in talks about defecting to the Greens, but are seeking guarantees they would be backed electorally by their new party, the Guardian has been told.Zack Polanski, the leader of the Greens in England and Wales, has said publicly that he has chatted to Labour MPs about the idea of switching sides, with the leftwing party enjoying a surge in membership and having overtaken Labour in some recent opinion polls.A series of other senior Green figures have confirmed that talks with several MPs are happening, but that none are yet at the stage of wanting to commit.“We already have a lot of experience of Labour councillors defecting to us, so this is not a surprise,” one said.“But it takes time.
You get to know people, and realise they would be much happier with us, but you never know when, or even if, it will happen.It’s a very personal thing.”Another senior Green figure said one hold-up had been Labour MPs wanting guarantees in advance that they would be re-selected for their seat at the next general election, and given support from the party to win again.“This is part of a lot of the conversations – they want the guarantees,” they said.“But we’re such a decentralised party, it’s not as easy for us to do as it is for other parties.
”The names of Labour MPs involved in the talks have not been made public, but several Green and Labour figures pointed to the same small number of backbenchers, all of whom are on the left of Labour and who face a likely electoral threat from the Green party in their constituency.However, none are understood to be seen by Labour whips as an imminent defection risk.A series of left-leaning Labour MPs are increasingly dissatisfied with the direction of the party under Keir Starmer, and are attracted by what they see as the greater radicalism and dynamism of Polanski.Such is the scale of dissent with Starmer within Labour that one obstacle to defections is the fact that some MPs think it is possible he could be replaced soon by a leader they might find more appealing.Other Green figures argue that defections are also not a priority for the party given how well it is doing anyway.
After quadrupling its number of MPs to four at the 2024 general election, the party won last month’s Gorton and Denton byelection, with Hannah Spencer beating Reform UK and pushing Labour into third.“Zack has always and is still having lots of conversations with Labour MPs, and they are happening quite regularly,” one Green official said.“But we’re much more interested in where the next byelection is going to be than what would be the very large step of a Labour MP crossing the floor.”Speaking to the House magazine earlier this week, Polanski said he was talking to a “handful” of Labour MPs, adding: “If you speak to some Labour MPs, some days it seems like it’s going to be their last day in the party, and other days they’ve seen a glimmer of light and think everything’s going to be OK.”Another senior Green said they expected someone to move eventually: “The Labour benches always look so miserable.
Given they can look over and see that we’re such a happy team, why wouldn’t they want to come?”
Gerry Adams was leader of IRA, ex-police officers tell high court
Gerry Adams was the leader of the Irish Republican Army, two former police officers have told the high court.The former Sinn Féin leader is being sued for symbolic “vindicatory” damages of £1 each by John Clark, Jonathan Ganesh and Barry Laycock, who allege he was culpable for three separate IRA bombings in which they were injured.Adams denies ever having been a member of the IRA or having sat on its army council.On Thursday, however, Tim Hanley, a retired detective for the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), and a former RUC special branch intelligence officer anonymised as “witness B”, gave evidence that Adams had led the proscribed organisation.Hanley said in his written witness statement: “There is no question in my mind that Adams was the leader of the PIRA [Provisional IRA]; that’s what all the intelligence concluded
Starmer: It was my mistake appointing Mandelson – as it happened
Keir Starmer has told reporters in Northern Ireland that “it was me that made the mistake” in appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador “and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of Epstein”.It is the prime minister’s first comments on Mandelson since the release of the files relating to his appointment yesterday afternoon.He said:double quotation markThe release of the information shows what was known. That led to further questions being asked.Unfortunately, because of the Metropolitan police investigation, we can’t release that information yet
No 10 rejects claims it covered up Starmer’s role in Mandelson appointment
Downing Street has rejected accusations it covered up Keir Starmer’s role in appointing Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to Washington, after documents detailing the process showed no formal input from the prime minister.A day after 147 pages of documents were released by the government, No 10 also denied that the approval and vetting of Mandelson had been rushed through, saying normal procedures were followed.Starmer’s spokesperson reiterated the prime minister’s regret over the choice, which saw Mandelson sacked just nine months into the job after new details emerged about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted child sex offender.Speaking on a visit to Belfast on Thursday, Starmer said he had not known the extent of Mandelson’s links to Epstein. “But that doesn’t take away from the fact that it was me that made a mistake, and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of Epstein, and I do that
Several Labour MPs in talks with Greens about defecting to the party, sources say
Several Labour MPs are in talks about defecting to the Greens, but are seeking guarantees they would be backed electorally by their new party, the Guardian has been told.Zack Polanski, the leader of the Greens in England and Wales, has said publicly that he has chatted to Labour MPs about the idea of switching sides, with the leftwing party enjoying a surge in membership and having overtaken Labour in some recent opinion polls.A series of other senior Green figures have confirmed that talks with several MPs are happening, but that none are yet at the stage of wanting to commit.“We already have a lot of experience of Labour councillors defecting to us, so this is not a surprise,” one said. “But it takes time
Starmer overruled warning of ‘reputational risk’ over Mandelson appointment, files show
Keir Starmer overruled officials who warned of a “reputational risk” in making Peter Mandelson US ambassador, despite being handed a dossier of evidence about the peer’s relationship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, documents reveal.The disclosure in newly released files will raise fresh questions about Starmer’s judgment – as well as about the vetting procedures at the highest levels of government.The files show that Mandelson was offered a highly classified briefing from the Foreign Office even before he finished the formal vetting process.They also show that two of the government’s most senior security and foreign policy officials – national security adviser Jonathan Powell and FCDO permanent secretary Philip Barton – raised concerns about Mandelson’s appointment due to his involvement in previous public scandals.Despite the document prepared by the officials warning that Mandelson had continued his relationship with Epstein after his conviction, emails show close aides to the prime minister said they were “satisfied” with Mandelson’s explanations of their friendship
Starmer’s national security adviser expressed concern about Mandelson appointment, documents show - as it happened
According to the documents, Keir Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell expressed concerns about the appointment of Peter Mandelson with Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s former chief of staff.He said he believed Starmer “may have had a couple of political conversations” about Mandelson’s links to the disgraced financier.Powell also claimed Philip Barton, the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office, also “had reservations around the appointment”, the BBC reported.The first set of documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US was released by the government today. MPs ordered the government last month to release tens of thousands of documents relating to the 2024 appointment after questions over how Mandelson was vetted and what was known about his links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
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UK companies struggling to hire young people amid cost pressures, MPs told