Starmer says voters being ‘conned’ because Tories and Reform UK preparing for coalition which would be ‘disaster’ for Britain
Keir Starmer has claimed that Conservative voters and Reform UK voters are both being “conned” because neither party is being honest about the prospect of the two parties merging.
In an interview with Beth Rigby from Sky News during his visit to Rossendale in Lancashire, asked whether he was more worried about the Tories or Reform in this week’s local elections, Starmer said he saw them as “equally” challenging. He went on:
The Tories have got a terrible record, 14 years of failure. Reform moan about everything, but have got no answers.
And at the end of the day, Reform and the Tories, there’s all this talk about them getting together merging.
If you’re a Tory voter who doesn’t want a pro-Russia foreign policy, how does a merger with Reform work for you?
If you’re a Reform voter that thinks the Tories have failed for 14 years, how’s a merger or coalition with the Tories work for you?
Both sets of voters are being conned. Behind the scenes, behind the leader of the opposition, other people are looking for a coalition of these two parties. It would be a disaster for Britain.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative party leader, and Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, have both rejected calls for some sort of pact or coalition, stressing that they view each other as opponents, not allies.
But many Conservatives have argued – as Robert Jenrick did in private remarks that were made public last week – that, if Reform is still polling well at the time of the next election, the Tories will have to strike some sort of electoral deal with them.
Yesterday the Sunday Times reportedly that, privately, Badenoch agrees. In their story, Caroline Wheeler and Tim Shipman said:
Multiple sources say that in recent conversations with donors the Tory leader has said that she thinks some sort of pact is “inevitable” if Labour is to be defeated at the next general election.
A Tory spokesman claimed that this was a distortion, that Badenoch was under pressure from donors to seek an accommodation with Reform and had resisted. But a credible account of her views was directly relayed to journalists, members of the shadow cabinet and party aides by those involved in the discussions …
A source familiar with Badenoch’s exchanges with donors said: “She hasn’t condemned Jenrick for what he said because she has previously gone even further and told donors she thinks a pact with Reform is inevitable. That’s not gone down particularly well with some and it is an interesting tactic, given the party is struggling to attract funding and has lost some of its biggest donors.”
Key events
UK proposes statement of shared values with EU as part of post-Brexit reset, document suggests
Britain has proposed a broad statement of shared values with the EU that emphasises support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the Paris Climate Agreement and open and free trade, according to a report by Reuters.
In her story, Lili Bayer says the text, which has recently been shown to EU members, is a possible preamble to a new UK-EU strategic partnership both sides hope to agree at a summit on Monday 19 May. This has been described as a post-Brexit reset.
As quoted in the story, the document says:
We reaffirmed our continued support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders …
We confirmed our shared principles of maintaining global economic stability and our mutual commitment to free and open trade …
We remain committed to keeping the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C within reach.
In her story Bayer points out that, while the document does not mention President Trump, “several elements of the text present a striking contrast to current US policies”.
Caoimhe Archibald, the Sinn Féin economy minister in the Northern Ireland executive, has told reporters that “clearly” she does not agree with the alleged ‘kill MP’ comment from the Irish language band Kneecap. But she also defended the band for speaking out about the killing of Palestinians in Gaza.
Asked about the controversy generated by video of the group at a November 2023 gig appearing to show one member saying “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP”, she said:
Clearly, I don’t agree with what was said.
I think that Kneecap are a group that has been very vocal on issues that are important to them like Gaza.
I think the most outrageous issue facing the world today is the ongoing genocide that we are seeing in Palestine and the bombardment that continues on a daily basis, the blockading of aid, the slaughter of innocent women and children.
I think that is what our focus should very much be on as an international community, in bringing an end to that.
Asked if the band should apologise, Archibald said that was a matter for them.
Green co-leader Carla Denyer defends right of trans women to take part in women’s sports
The Green party co-leader Carla Denyer has defended the rights of trans women to take part in at least some women’s sports.
In an interview with Times Radio, asked if trans women should be allowed to compete in sports against cis women, Denyer replied:
The thing is, in a lot of sports the research shows that there is no substantial gender difference. And, what’s more, I’ve also seen research that shows that trans women do not retain much, if any, biological advantage. And we have to acknowledge that in sports, there’s a variety of heights, weight, strength amongst people.
When it was put to Denyer than in some cases being born male did give people a physical advantage over women that would persist after they transitioned, she replied:
I think we have to bear in mind here that trans people are less than 1% of the population.
And this hyper-fixation on them in society, treating trans people who are very vulnerable groups, by and large, as a political football is not actually tackling any of the problems we’re facing in society, is it? While we focus on this debate about what toilets they should use, we are not talking about the chronic underfunding of women’s refuges and domestic violence services.
Last week Adrian Ramsay, Denyer’s co-leader, angered some pro-trans activists in his party by saying Greens should not expel members who say that trans women are not women. Denyer has been more explicitly pro-trans, and in her interview she rejected the suggestion that this might lead some people to think the Greens were not standing up for the rights of cis women. She said:
I’m a biological woman, I’m a cis woman, I’m not trans myself. But I’m very, very clear that my feminism is expansive, it’s inclusive. For me, it’s really important to include trans women in my definition of feminism.
And I don’t see my rights as in conflict with trans people’s rights at all. Of course, there are some details that need to be worked out. And those are areas where I’d be keen to take expert advice. But broadly speaking, I think this pitching of women’s rights and trans rights against each other as if they’re in opposition simply doesn’t match my understanding of how the world works.
In reality, women and trans people both suffer from misogyny. We both suffer from inaccurate stereotypes about what we are and what we should be. And I think we can push for a better world, a more inclusive world that helps all of us together.
RCN says pay award for nurses must be ‘fully funded’ – not paid for by cuts to other services
The Royal College of Nursing has said this year’s pay award for nurses must be “fully funded” – and not paid for by cuts to other health services. The RCN also sounded unimpressed by a Times report saying the NHS pay review body is recommending a pay rise of about 3%, marginally above the 2.8% proposed by the government.
In a response to the Times’s story (see 10.04am), Jo Galbraith-Marten, the RCN’s director of legal, employment and member relations, said:
This level of award will do little to turn things around. Nursing is crucial to delivering the government’s reforms, but the profession is in crisis, with fewer people joining and the numbers quitting skyrocketing.
We need direct negotiations with the government, not a pay review body process from a bygone era. Any pay award must be fully funded, taking resources away from frontline services is unfair on staff and bad for patients. We have a live survey of members open on what they think about the government’s 2.8% proposal and what action, including industrial action, they might be prepared to take.
When our members meet in two weeks’ time at our annual congress, they need answers, not endless speculation. This year’s pay award is already late, and the government needs to provide some certainty for staff and patients as a matter of urgency.
‘Completely irresponsible, totally wrong’ – Phillipson condemns Farage for his comments about special educational needs
During education questions in the Commons, Helen Hayes, the Labour chair of the Commons education committee, asked Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, to condemn Nigel Farage’s comment about special educational needs and disabilities last week.
Referring to Farage, the Reform UK leader, claiming that doctors are “massively over-diagnosing” children with Send and mental health conditions, Hayes said that there was a real Send crisis in schools and that blaming parents and GPs for the increase in diagnosis was “both inaccurate and insuting”.
In response, Phillipson said:
I cannot agree more …
[Hayes] is absolutely right that, just days from the local elections, the comments of the member for Clacton [Farage] will have sent a shiver down the spines of so many parents right across our country. Completely irresponsible. Totally wrong.
This government is focused on better outcomes for all of our children, including children with Send.
Campaigners also pointed out that Farage was wrong to say that children were being assess as having Send by GPs over Zoom.
Starmer says voters being ‘conned’ because Tories and Reform UK preparing for coalition which would be ‘disaster’ for Britain
Keir Starmer has claimed that Conservative voters and Reform UK voters are both being “conned” because neither party is being honest about the prospect of the two parties merging.
In an interview with Beth Rigby from Sky News during his visit to Rossendale in Lancashire, asked whether he was more worried about the Tories or Reform in this week’s local elections, Starmer said he saw them as “equally” challenging. He went on:
The Tories have got a terrible record, 14 years of failure. Reform moan about everything, but have got no answers.
And at the end of the day, Reform and the Tories, there’s all this talk about them getting together merging.
If you’re a Tory voter who doesn’t want a pro-Russia foreign policy, how does a merger with Reform work for you?
If you’re a Reform voter that thinks the Tories have failed for 14 years, how’s a merger or coalition with the Tories work for you?
Both sets of voters are being conned. Behind the scenes, behind the leader of the opposition, other people are looking for a coalition of these two parties. It would be a disaster for Britain.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative party leader, and Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, have both rejected calls for some sort of pact or coalition, stressing that they view each other as opponents, not allies.
But many Conservatives have argued – as Robert Jenrick did in private remarks that were made public last week – that, if Reform is still polling well at the time of the next election, the Tories will have to strike some sort of electoral deal with them.
Yesterday the Sunday Times reportedly that, privately, Badenoch agrees. In their story, Caroline Wheeler and Tim Shipman said:
Multiple sources say that in recent conversations with donors the Tory leader has said that she thinks some sort of pact is “inevitable” if Labour is to be defeated at the next general election.
A Tory spokesman claimed that this was a distortion, that Badenoch was under pressure from donors to seek an accommodation with Reform and had resisted. But a credible account of her views was directly relayed to journalists, members of the shadow cabinet and party aides by those involved in the discussions …
A source familiar with Badenoch’s exchanges with donors said: “She hasn’t condemned Jenrick for what he said because she has previously gone even further and told donors she thinks a pact with Reform is inevitable. That’s not gone down particularly well with some and it is an interesting tactic, given the party is struggling to attract funding and has lost some of its biggest donors.”
UK announces £100m package of support for Palestinian territories
Keir Starmer will announce a package of support for the Palestinian territories when he hosts the prime minister of the Palestinian authority Downing Street this afternoon, PA Media reports.
Starmer and David Lammy, the foreign secretary, will meet Mohammad Mustafa for the first such official visit since 2021, PA says. The support package will include £101m for humanitarian relief, economic development and governance and reform.
At the lobby briefing this morning, the PM’s spokesperson replied:
The meeting today is with the prime minister of the Palestinian authority, obviously discussing UK’s steadfast support to the Palestinian authority and its own reform agenda, as well as obviously our support of the Palestinian people at a critical moment.
There will be two urgent questions in the Commons this afternoon. At 3.30pm there will be one on the Headingley crossbow attack, and at about 4.15pm there will be one on the child rape gang scandal. A Home Office minister or ministers will be responding.
Here are some more picture from Keir Starmer’s visit to the Rossendale primary health care centre in Lancashire today.
