Starmer claims he can’t think of anything he should have done differently in his first months as prime minister – as happened policy

Labor retains control of Edinburgh Council, despite being the third largest party, by agreeing with pro-union groups to keep the SNP out.

Severin Carrel

Labor retained control of Edinburgh City Council, despite being the third largest group, after maintaining its agreement with other unionist groups to close out the Scottish National Party.

Councilors voted for Jane Major today after former leader Cammy Day resigned suddenly, on December 9, after police confirmed they were investigating allegations he sent sexual text messages to Ukrainian refugee women.

The Scottish National Party, the city’s largest party, lost its bid with the Scottish Greens to take control of the country by 32 votes to 28. Labor has just 10 councillors. The Scottish National Party has 17.

Major, who was most recently Labour’s housing official, appeared via video link from Tanzania, where she is on a family holiday. She said in a statement issued by the council:

This has been a very difficult and devastating time for the Council. Today was an opportunity to restore stability and continue the work of city management.

As we count down to 2025 – and the difficult budget and other decisions that await us in the new year – we need stability, trust, and consensus.

As then Labor leader, Day in May 2022 brokered a controversial post-council election deal with the Conservatives and Lib Dems to form a minority administration in Edinburgh, which stopped short of forming a formal coalition.

The deal has not been approved by Scottish Labor headquarters. Anas Sarwar, leader of the Scottish Labor Party, had pledged that there would be no alliances with the Conservatives in any council. However, the Conservative Party was granted to hold two law committees each day.

In his last answer to Meg HillierChairman of the Labor Liaison Committee, Keir Starmer He claimed that he could not think of anything he should have done differently in his first months as Prime Minister.

Heller He asked him what lessons he had learned since becoming Prime Minister, and whether he would do anything differently. Starmer He devoted his answer to criticizing the legacy he left behind. (See 4.19pm).

Heller Then he asked again:

Is there anything you would do differently if you were starting out now, knowing what you know?

and Starmer He replied:

No, we had to do hard things. We’re dealing with it. I’m more than happy to be presenting, and presenting from a position of strength, rather than running around the halls of departments that are losing every night. I’ve had a lot of that.

This answer caused some surprise among commentators. This is from Robert PestonITV Political Editor, On social media.

Keir Starmer told the Commons Liaison Committee there was nothing he would have done differently as Prime Minister now that he had the advantage of hindsight. Hey ho

And this is it from James PaulPolitical editor of the New European newspaper.

One thing that is abundantly clear is that when Keir Starmer was asked if he had any advice for himself six months ago, all he could do was stammer out an answer about inheriting a £22 billion black hole from the last government, before saying he would. Nothing different.

Perhaps Starmer truly believes there is no single thing he could do better. But it’s more likely that he decided to say no to avoid the inevitable negative headlines that a more honest answer would attract.

Heller He ended the session by asking if there was anything Starmer would have done differently in his first five months in office.

Starmer He says that staying in the government is much better than staying in the opposition. He says he entered politics to change things.

He says he expected the inheritance to be “pretty bad,” but it turned out to be “worse than I thought, in every way,” he says. He cites prison overcrowding as an example. During the summer riots, at a COBRA meeting, he had the prison quarters numbers for every prison in the country on a screen in the room because they were at “explosion point” and he needed to know if they could hold people.

It’s not about saying whether there is anything he would have done differently or not.

Heller He asks again if there is anything he would have done differently. No, he says Starmer. He says he had to do difficult things, but he is very happy with what he did.

This is the end of the hearing.

Meg HillierChair of the Liaison Committee, is now finishing some final questions of her own.

Question: Are you speaking to the Migration Advisory Committee about ensuring the UK has enough skilled workers to meet the government’s housing ambitions?

Yes, he says Starmer. He says there has been too much policy making in silos.

Q: Are you willing to say that the country needs more skilled workers?

Starmer He says the UK will always need skilled workers.

Q: Will you give the green light to receive more skilled workers?

Starmer He says he wants a joint approach. He says the UK has had very high immigration rates because it has not trained enough people with skills. So you will do it. But at the same time, it will not “cut the legs off our companies” by denying them access to foreign workers.

Tan desiLabour’s Chairman of the Defense Committee, goes next.

Q: Regarding defense and security, what keeps you up at night?

Starmer He says he doesn’t stay up at night. He says he has great confidence in the army.

Question: The new head of NATO has said that we need to shift to a war mentality. He says, if we are not at war, we will not be at peace either. Do you agree?

Starmer He says we are in a more volatile world. He says the conflict is escalating.

Question: When will defense spending rise to 2.5% of GDP?

Starmer He says the government will determine the way to do so. The defense report will be submitted next year.

Desi He says it’s not the time to be prevaricating. He says the government has made several other big announcements on defense spending, without waiting for the defense review to conclude. Why can’t this be addressed now?

Starmer He says the review aims to look at what risks the UK faces, what current capacity is, and whether changes are needed to address this gap. He says that’s why he doesn’t want to commit to money until he gets results from it.

Desi UK’s enemies don’t wait, he says. He says that deterring war is cheaper than waging war. So why is the UK “dribbling”?

Starmer It says defense spending is now 2.3% of GDP. Some costs, such as nuclear deterrence, are fixed, he says.

emily Thornberry, Labour’s Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, goes next.

Q: Who are the main players in Syria?

Starmer He says the situation is moving quickly. He says that the fall of President Assad was a good thing. He continues:

But we should not make the mistake of thinking that what comes next will necessarily be better.