Jess Phillips among three ministers to resign after Starmer tells cabinet he is not stepping down – UK politics live

These are from my colleague Gaby Hinsliff on the fact that all three ministers who have resigned so far are women.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, Jess Phillips and Alex Davies Jones; so far all 3 ministerial resignations are women, 2 directly responsible for delivering on the manifesto pledge to halve violence against women and girls. There has been real simmering anger in the women’s PLP about not being listened to.

partly that was over Mandelson (& obv if Starmer gets through all this, there’s still the next release of Mandelson whatsapps/emails to come) & sense of a boys club in no 10 but not entirely. It’s disappointment that the PM genuinely does care about VAWG, it’s not empy words, but can’t drive it.

meanwhile Reform make grim capital out of grooming gangs & sexual assaults by immigrants (oddly uninterested if not immigrants). So it matters on a life and limb level for women but also for social cohesion/fighting the far right. Harriet Harman appt was meant to reassure but too late

Andy Burnham’s allies have suggested he could quite easily find a Labour MP willing to stand down to allow him to run for parliament, but they have said who this would be. There has been speculation that one candidate is Marie Rimmer, the MP for St Helens South and Whiston, who is 79.

As Josh Halliday reports, Rimmer has said she won’t stand down for Burnham. She has also issued a statement saying she supports Keir Starmer, is glad he is not standing down and thinks Labour should be offering “stability, seriousness and leadership”.

A third minister has resigned – Alex Davies-Jones, the minister for victims. Like Jess Phillips, Davies-Jones describes Keir Starmer as a good man in her resignation letter. But she says Labour must respond to the message sent by the “catastrophic” election results.

Davies-Jones represents Pontypridd in south Wales where the Labour defeat was particularly disastrous.

Here are some extracts from Jess Phillips’ resignation letter. Phillips is one of the most high-profile junior ministers in the government, and this will be seen as part of an orchestrated campaign by Wes Streeting supporters to trigger a leadership contest.

Here are some of the main points.

• Phillips pays a barbed tribute to Starmer – thanking him for his support on tackling violence against women and girls, but saying Starmer only acted under pressure. She says:

I want to start by first saying that we have worked closely together on Violence Against Women and Girls for many years and I have no doubt you have genuine knowledge and desire to rectify this dreadful social ill. We have started to make steps towards change whilst in government and I have been grateful for your support.

However, it would be remiss of me not to say that real change and direction in this area usually came from threats made by me in light of catastrophic mistakes. The Mandelson saga whenever it bubbled up made Number 10 kick into gear on the subject in order to prove our credentials. I will never waste a crisis to make advancements for women and girls and so demands were made and some were met.

• She describes Starmer as “a good man” – but unsuited to leadership.

I think you are a good man fundamentally, who cares about the right things however I have seen first-hand how that is not enough. The desire not to have an argument means we rarely make an argument, leaving opportunities for progress stalled and delayed.

• She accuses Starmer of blocking her plans for legislation to stop children being able to use phones to take naked images of themselves. She cites this as an example of the “incremental” approach to politics that Starmer claimed yesterday to reject.

Over a year ago I presented solutions, long worked on by brilliant civil servants that would end the ability for children in the UK to take naked images of themselves. 91% of online child sex abuse is self-generated by children groomed, tricked and exploited in to abuse. The technology exists to stop children being able to take naked images of themselves. We could make this possible on every phone and device in the country. We could stop this abuse. It has taken me a year to get you to agree to even threaten to legislate in this space. Not legislate, just threaten. This is the definition of incremental change. Nothing bold about it. The announcement was meant to be in March, I’m still on a promise this will happen in June, I’ve given up believing it. How many children were left without a safety net in the time we dilly dallied and worried about tech bosses?

• She suggests Labour needs a leader with more gusto. She says:

Labour governments come around rarely is the constant refrain at the moment. It’s true they are precious. Every Labour government in my and my family’s lifetime has forged progress that changed our country and the world for the better. I know you care deeply, but deeds, not words are what matter. I’m not sure we are grasping this rare opportunity with the gusto that’s needed and I cannot keep waiting around for a crisis to push for faster progress.

Decency is vital, calm curiosity is also needed, but so too are fight and drive required. Have a row, push back, make arguments, bring people along. Standing up and being counted can’t always be workshopped. Politics is as much about feelings as policy, especially at the moment.

• She says she is resigning because Labour is not delivering change quickly enough. Almost all the other Labour MPs saying Starmer should go have highlighted his unpopularity with voters, but this is not a point Phillips is making. She says:

I want a Labour government to work and I will strive as I always have for its success and popularity, but I’m not seeing the change I think I, and the country expect, and so cannot continue to serve as a minister under the current leadership.

Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, has resigned, Sky News is reporting. She says she can no longer support Keir Starmer as PM. She says Labour needs a leader with more “gusto”.

Phillips is an ally of Wes Streeting’s.

Allies of Andy Burnham have warned against a “coronation” for Wes Streeting as the next prime minister and called on Labour’s ruling body to allow the mayor to stand for the leadership, Josh Halliday reports.

This is from my colleague Pippa Crerar, the Guardian’s political editor, on today’s cabinet.

More from cabinet

– as Keir Starmer’s ministers begin to rally round embattled PM.

– Starmer did not give cabinet critics time to respond, moving conversation on to Middle East, and none called directly on him to resign during meeting.

– PM did not have any one-on-one meetings with ministers before or after cabinet, apart from with close ally Richard Hermer.

– there’s anger within cabinet ranks over what they regard as Wes Streeting’s attempts to destabilise PM.

“Wes has got a brass neck. He came into the room as though nothing had happened and acted entirely normally. Clearly some colleagues are absolutely furious with him. There were evil looks in his direction”.

And here is our story on this.

Keir Starmer refused to have a meeting with Wes Streeting after cabinet, Sam Coates from Sky News reports.

Wes Streeting tried to see Keir Starmer after cabinet.

But Starmer said in Cabinet that he won’t discuss the elections or his leadership, and that he will only speak to cabinet ministers about that individually.

Then after the meeting he refused to see Streeting one on one.

One of the prominent Labour MPs yesterday calling for Keir Starmer’s resignation was Chris Curtis. He is chair of the Labour Growth Group and today it has published a major report with proposals for a Labour government. The full document is here and this is what the Labour Growth Group says are its six main ideas.

1. Tax gains fairly, cut National Insurance on work. Reform Capital Gains Tax so gains built in Britain are taxed more fairly, while genuine investment and risk-taking are protected. Close death and exit loopholes …

2. Make Clean Power reach the meter. Cut bills with radical energy market reform.Redefine the central mission of Clean Power 2030 from “clean capacity announced” to clean power delivered to British homes and businesses at the lowest total system cost …

3. A ‘Build Britain Act’: decide once, then build. For nationally significant infrastructure including the grid, reservoirs, transport, energy, defence production and strategic compute, Parliament should decide the national interest up front …

4. The most radical English devolution settlement in modern times. Abolish the regeneration ‘begging bowl’ of competitive funding pots. Replace them with long-term settlements for Strategic Authorities. Give mayors and capable local leaders real powers over transport, housing, skills, land assembly, local infrastructure and business support …

5. End fake-market capitalism in essentials. If Thames Water cannot stand on its own obligations, it should enter special administration. Creditors take losses …

6. Build a real Department of the Prime Minister. Break open the Cabinet Office. Build a command centre at the heart of government with authority over delivery stocktakes, programme-critical appointments, Treasury dispute resolution and data tracking …

This report coincides with the publication of a separate report from the Tribune group of Labour MPs, which represents people on the soft-left of the party. Richard Partington has a story about this report here.

As Richard says, these MPs are calling for higher taxes on wealth, action on the cost of living and more borrowing to fund investment – including a redrawing of the government’s fiscal rules.

There is some overlap between the two groups, and the two policy documents. But, as Kiran Stacey and Jessica Elgot report, the Labour Growth Group is seen as aligned to Wes Streeting, whereas Tribune is seen as aligned to Andy Burnham.

Rebecca Long-Bailey was runner up to Keir Starmer in the 2020 leadership contest and was one of the first shadow cabinet ministers to be sacked by him. She has now joined those calling for Starmer’s resignation. She has posted this on social media.

Long-Bailey is calling for a “reasonable” timetable for a contest, and a “full range of candidates” being allowed to stand – both demands being made by Labour MPs who want Andy Burnham on the ballot.

According to Sky’s Beth Rigby, the mood at cabinet was not quite as supportive towards Keir Starmer as Jenny Chapman implied. (See 11.39am.) Rigby says:

This coming from a government source. A less supportive assessment of cabinet meeting

“Keir said in Cabinet that he wouldn’t discuss the elections or his leadership, and that he will only speak to cabinet ministers about that individually. Then after the meeting he refused to see Cabinet ministers individually”