Parties present competing visions for jobs and growth in second weekend of campaign
Copyright: BBC
Back to our morning guest line-up, where we’ve just heard from Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary.
Before getting into Labour’s policies, Liz Kendall first had to bat off accusations that her party’s leader showed weakness over the Diane Abbott row.
As a reminder, this week saw an internal party disagreement spill into the open after it emerged Abbott, who has been a Labour MP since 1987, might not be allowed to stand next month despite having had the whip restored following a lengthy suspension for comments she made about racism.
On Friday, however, Starmer confirmed that Abbott is free to stand after public lobbying from some of his own candidates.
When pressed on the handling of this row, the shadow cabinet member credited Starmer with changing the Labour Party “beyond recognition” after a historic defeat in 2019 and resetting the party’s positions on things like tax and security.
“He has done that against all the odds, he is a strong leader”, she tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Kendall says she “completely rejects” the suggestion that Starmer’s position on Abbott changed after his deputy Angela Rayner publicly intervened.
Published at Fri, 31 May 2024 03:47:39 +0000