AIBU to predict Streeting will resign tomorrow & trigger leadership contest.

[Twiglets1]

Wes Streeting will reportedly resign as Health Secretary and trigger a leadership contest against Keir Starmer and it could be as soon as tomorrow.

Allies of Mr Streeting said he was “going to go for it” after he met the Prime Minister in Downing Street for just 16 minutes this morning.

A spokesman for the Health Secretary said he would not discuss his brief meeting with Sir Keir over fears it would overshadow the King’s Speech, which will take place later today at 11.40.

AIBU to assume that Streeting is in the final stages of preparing a coup for the Labour leadership and will very likely make his move tomorrow?

I’m that rare beast, an actual Labour Party member, more through habit than enthusiasm currently.

If it comes down to a straight fight between Keir and Wes, I’ll vote for Keir.

Wes doesn’t offer anything other than not being Keir - we need a radically different approach, and a leader who can really connect with the public, someone with charisma who actually speaks like a human being.

Like most ex politicians that move away from it completely to do stupid shit on TV, Ed balls has lost any credibility he may have had.

That reminds me of the name people are giving Zack Polanski - Oswald Muesli.

For anyone who doesn't know, GPs and hospitals in England will be forced to share patient data with each other under legislation announced in the king’s speech.

The move will, according to a House of Lords briefing on the speech, “introduce a single patient record (SPR) to bring together all of a patient’s medical records in one place.”

The change comes as a leaked NHS England briefing revealed that US tech giant Palantir has been allowed “unlimited access” to patient data in a bid to connect health information across the health service.

Palantir was given access to the data as part of its work on the NHS’s federated data platform (FDP), a project that aims to improve efficiency across the health service, the Financial Times reported.

The leaked NHS England briefing acknowledged the “considerable public interest and concern about how much access to patient data Palantir/Palantir staff have”. In 2023, shortly after the deal was agreed, NHS England said it would ensure “personal data remains protected and within the NHS at all times”.

Palantir said it was a “data processor” and not a “data controller”, meaning its software could only be used to process data precisely in line with customer instructions. “Using the data for anything else would not only be illegal but technically impossible due to granular access controls overseen by the NHS,” it said.

In other news, the BBC just reported that Angela Rayner has been cleared by HMRC, she has settled her unpaid stamp duty bill with no fine.

Which means she is effectively able to throw her hat into the ring too ...

This in spades.

Anyone who forgets just how close and how long he stayed close with mandleson, even AFTER his links to Epstein were widely known, needs to take a close look into this.

A man anyone can trust. Never.

So yet another right wing media slur on Rayner that turned out to be nothing of the sort.

No Fine = No wrong doing.

I like her but pray to god she doesn't stand or anyone else, its the last thing we all need.

No ... she had taken the step of not paying stamp duty where she should have done.

If I forgot to pay stamp duty on a second property, I would get an investigation too and be forced to pay the bill if caught.

It would be embarrassing for me but for a Deputy Prime Minister, the expectation is that they behave better than the average person in the street and that they take proper legal/tax advice when buying/selling property for example.

Other than her stance on trans issues (she is full on TWAW if I remember right) I like Angela Rayner but I think she would have about as much chance of getting Labour to win the next GE as Corbyn (who I also liked). I just don’t think those people who perhaps reluctantly voted Labour with Keir at the helm will vote for Labour with Rayner. The press would love it as they would have a field day, just like they did with Corbyn, and if we’ve seen a press attack on Starmer we have seen nothing compared to what Rayner would get. Not saying it’s right of course.

And isn't streeting ex stonewall ? And didn't he write spiteful nasty twitter messages ?

She did not "forget" to pay 'duty, she paid the incorrect amount, forgetting would be considered an avoidable error and you'd get a fine.

As she has had no fine, HMRC have seen it as a genuine mistake, being an MP or even Deputy PM, doesn't make one a tax expert in the eyes of HMRC.

She has done nothing wrong.

But regardless, this a bit of a derail, i'm sure they'll be a thread on it!

I do reckon Andy Burnham is the only one that has a chance of coming up with better policies, an ability to manage people and an ability to communicate them well. All things the other runners definitely lack on one dimension or another.

Same. I think he’s an utter snake, his friendship with Mandelson proved that for me. Did you see his fake weasly belly laugh during PMQs yesterday as well? He’s awful.

Rayner has been cleared by HMRC and I’d much rather see her in charge.

Disagree with you on that - forgetting could also be considered a genuine mistake. She didn't need to be a tax expert, but she did need to take expert tax advice as was recommended at the time. I would guess the fact that it could have been a genuine mistake is why HMRC didn't fine her.

From the BBC:

At the time, the prime minister's ethics adviser said Rayner "acted with integrity" but had breached the ministerial code. He said she did get legal advice when buying the property, but failed to seek further expert tax advice as recommended.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx219y4qy0qo

Agreed and I think with Rayner it’s pure classism. We’re not ready to have a working class PM with a regional accent.

She’s also thick as mince.

Hardly a prediction. It looks guaranteed.

...ok....

Whether advice sought or not, ultimately, its down to the individual & the Ethics Advisor doesn't work for HMRC.

HMRC see this as a genuine mistake, if they thought it was down to carelessness, they have the power to fine up to 30% of the amount owed.

I suspect, though i don't know, AR self reported to HMRC, believe it or not, they can be quite helpful in complex cases involving an individual.

Definitely don’t think she self reported before the story came out. Has she done so then it would have been her first line of defence - I’ve already realised the mistake & reported myself.

But you can’t think that she’s so wonderful the only reason people might have to dislike her is classism?

See I think that is really unfair. Just how could someone thick as mince as you call her have achieved what she has? How are you judging her “thicknesss”?

They couldn’t do that yesterday because of the King’s Speech, even if the meetings went well.

@Alexandra2001 you don't make mistakes in tax ,it's one of the most aggressive departments there is.
Many of us struggle with the complex tax system as she seemed to and what helped her care was simply paying what was due.
Many more people will make genuine mistakes but won't have the money to pay it off. Let's hope HMRC deals with them in the same Clement manner.

He worked as Head of Education for Stonewall for 18 months and led their Education for All campaign to tackle homophobia in schools.

What’s wrong with that?

I don't mind her lack of quals and I think someone with a tough background could help us however the problem is who does she wants to help ?
Usually only a very narrow window on who labour ideology agrees are those who need it.

Ie see stameer on women's issues .
See Jess Phipps leaving statement
See not caring about Peter Medallions ties to epstein and so on

It's the vitriol and politics of envy I deeply dislike

Twiglets big subject Google it. He himself has conceded he didn't help women's rights at the time.