Stop plotting to oust Keir Starmer, ex-deputy Labour leader urges MPs
Labour MPs have been urged to stop plotting to remove Keir Starmer by Tom Watson, who as a junior minister spearheaded the last attempted coup against a Labour prime minister, when Tony Blair faced a revolt in 2006.Watson’s warning came as Steve Reed, the housing and communities secretary, and a key Starmer loyalist, said Labour would risk “annihilation” if it decided to try to change leaders.But with results for Labour expected to be particularly grim in Thursday’s elections for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and English councils, senior party figures have told the Guardian that activists were being repeatedly told that the prime minister was the problem, rather than the party.“They don’t hate Labour, they hate Keir, as unfair as that is, and I do think it is massively unfair,” one said.There are nonetheless few expectations of a challenge soon after the elections, with expected challengers including Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting locked in what one cabinet minister called a “Mexican standoff”, with no one ready to move first.
Watson’s warning came in a Substack post in which he recounted his role in events in 2006, when Blair faced a letter from some MPs calling on him to set a date for his departure as prime minister, coupled with some junior ministerial resignations, Watson’s among them.His advice to the current crop of Labour MPs, said Watson, who served as deputy leader under Jeremy Corbyn and is now a peer, was “not to be as reckless as we were in 2006”.He went on: “Whatever the rights and wrongs of Labour’s current woes, the answer is not two-dozen backbench MPs writing a public letter calling on the prime minister to resign.” It would, he said, create a “Westminster psychodrama”, be seized on by opponents and go down extremely badly with voters.“Voters will see a party talking to itself while the country is shouting at it,” he wrote.
“The solution cannot simply be a different name on the door.The party has to listen harder, think deeper and recover its political purpose.”Speaking earlier on Tuesday, Reed said he believed most fellow Labour MPs were not signed up to the idea of a challenge.He told Times Radio: “The whole notion that we would copy the Conservatives and go doomscrolling through leaders in a way that means the government is completely incapable of dealing with the things that matter to most of the British public is absolute nonsense, and I’m not going to engage in it, and most of our MPs would not engage in that either.”Steve Wright, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, reiterated his call for Starmer to go in an interview published on Tuesday, saying that if results on Thursday were as bad as anticipated, the prime minister would be “a bit of a sitting duck”.
But one cabinet minister said an immediate challenge felt unlikely: “A number of candidates are in a Mexican standoff but nobody is ready to pull the trigger.“It’s a reality that the next few months will be difficult.The idea that in that context the Labour party wants to turn in on itself and go round the country and have hustings, is frankly bizarre.My sense is that no one will trigger a contest.There will be a lot of noise and briefing and people will understandably be worried, but I think that Keir will still be here next week.
”Supporters of Burnham are thought to be waiting to see local election results across the north-west before potentially making an intervention on Friday evening,Backers of the Greater Manchester mayor say they will ask Starmer to set out a timetable for a dignified exit,This timetable would give Burnham time to seek a seat in Westminster – and could mean he would no longer be obstructed by Labour’s national executive committee,If Starmer refused and Burnham sought to return to parliament nonetheless, he would almost certainly be blocked again,Whatever happens, Burnham, Rayner and Lucy Powell, who replaced Rayner as Labour’s deputy leader, are expected to feel more free to express opinions once the election is over.
Some in Labour believe that such is the political hole Starmer faces, someone will act.One senior party source said: “Plenty of MPs now think they might as well just roll the dice and that anything would be better than where we are now.”
Jon Rahm free for 2027 Ryder Cup after striking deal with DP World Tour
Jon Rahm has revealed he has ended his dispute with the DP World Tour, which returns the Spaniard to contention for next year’s Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, but he played down the sense of golfers sharply exiting LIV. Rahm, who has been tipped to make a return to the PGA Tour, has cited tight contractual terms as a reason he and others are not completely in control of their own destiny.The abrupt exit of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) from LIV – the Saudis will remove finance at the end of this year – has left the tour scrambling for alternative investment. Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are LIV’s biggest names, whom many assumed would already be glancing towards a playing future elsewhere. Rahm urged caution
Wu Yize cements China’s status as premier snooker force as younger generation takes over
Perhaps of all the noise emanating from Wu Yize’s historic victory in the World Snooker Championship final on Monday evening, it was 12 simple words from the godfather of Chinese snooker that meant the most.For the second successive year, China has a world champion in the sport the nation has taken to its heart, with Wu emulating Zhao Xintong’s win 12 months earlier by defeating Shaun Murphy in one of the great finals. But perhaps none of it would be possible without Ding Junhui laying the groundwork over the last 20 years.Ding, a beaten world finalist 10 years ago who was never quite able to take that decisive step, wrote on Weibo: “This is not just a breakthrough, rather our era is approaching now!” Gone are the days of Ding being China’s sole flag-bearer for the sport; there are now five Chinese players in the top 16.Two of them, Zhao and Wu, are in the top four, and Ding’s talk of new eras beginning for snooker feels pertinent on multiple fronts, not just for the sport in China
Ascot’s bold move in turf war leaves racing fighting to avoid constitutional crisis
The racing industry is such a broad and varied collection of professions, venues and interests that at times it can feel like the Holy Roman empire: there is always a turf war or two going on somewhere, but never to such an extent that the whole thing falls apart.Ascot’s announcement on Monday that it will quit the Racecourse Association (RCA) at the end of the year, however, feels like more than just another localised dispute. The email dropped at 9am on a bank holiday, as if to underline that the king’s track means business, and where Ascot has led, others may follow, putting the future of a trade association that dates back to 1907 in serious doubt.The spark that lit the fuse, just two months ago, was Charles Allen’s departure as chair of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), after a brief and ultimately fruitless attempt to impose a modern governance structure, including a fully independent board of directors, on Britain’s second-biggest spectator sport.Ascot, along with the Jockey Club, which operates major tracks including Cheltenham, Aintree, Epsom and Newmarket, and also three key “big independent” tracks – Newbury, York and Goodwood – subsequently wrote to the RCA calling for “a formal governance review” of the Association, to ensure “significant views from key racecourses can influence outcomes”
Sabalenka believes players will boycott grand slams to ‘fight for our rights’
Aryna Sabalenka believes the top tennis players will boycott grand slam tournaments in an attempt to resolve their dispute with the four events, which they argue should provide players with a greater share of their growing revenues.“I think at some point we will boycott it, yeah,” said the world No 1 during her pre-tournament press conference at the Italian Open. “I feel like that’s going to be the only way to fight for our rights.”Her comments come after a group of the top 20 male and female players released a statement criticising the prize money levels offered at the French Open, which begins this month. Sabalenka argued the players should be better compensated for their influence on tournament finances
London Marathon sets record after 1.8% of UK adult population applies for 2027 race
The London Marathon has set yet more records with organisers announcing that 1.8% of the UK adult population – more than one million people – have applied to run in next year’s race.Running’s boom wasreflected in a world record 1,338,544 global application for the 2027 London Marathon – up from 1.13m for this year’s race and more than double the amount they received in 2024.The extraordinary figures were welcomed by the London Marathon CEO, Hugh Brasher, who said: “This astonishing total of more than 1
Mercedes may have won again but Miami upgrades have shaken up the F1 grid | Giles Richards
The improved form of McLaren and Red Bull in Florida suggests the 2026 title race is likely to run and runThere is a long old way to go but after Formula One emerged from its enforced early season break with an entertaining romp around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, it indicated that there may yet be a decent tale to be told this season. One where Mercedes do not have it all their own way.Regulation changes dominated the buildup – of which more later because honestly paragraph two is too early to subject readers to the increasingly soul-destroying phrase “energy management” – but what really mattered in Miami was the sporting imperative of upgrades making a competitive difference.Mercedes had looked ominously strong with three straight wins in the opening three rounds before the five-week break caused by the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi GPs. During that time there was no little beavering across the paddock on upgrades for Miami
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