10/11/2025 10:06
The Guardian
Warning against breaking manifesto promise comes as speculation mounts about rise in income tax ahead of budget day on 26 NovemberAccording to Dan Bloom and Bethany Dawson in their London Playbook briefing for Politico, Labour MPs have taking a keen interest in this article by Kitty Donaldson for the i at the end of last week about the Labour leadership. Donaldson said some Labour MPs were actively discussing replacing Keir Starmer, although she also concluded “for now at least, Starmer appears safe in post, despite the chuntering of backbenchers”.In a report with multiple examples of chuntering, Donaldson said:A fresh Labour MP said Starmer and his supporters are in denial about the peril they face as the PLP is “feral”, despite Starmer’s attempts to connect.The MP added: “It’s a mix of everything. It’s the botched reshuffle. It’s all the poll ratings. It’s having to break the manifesto commitment to raise income tax in the Budget. It’s Peter Mandelson. It’s a belief among the PLP that the Prime Minister and Downing Street don’t really like them or respect them. Eventually, that feeling becomes mutual.”Two frontbenchers told Playbook that MPs have been sharing Kitty Donaldson’s eye-watering Friday piece about leadership murmurings in WhatsApp groups, even though many of them think talk of a challenge before May is absurd and point out the soft left don’t have a clear candidate. The first frontbencher warned slashing the salary sacrifice tax break on pension contributions (as floated over the weekend) could alienate voters with young families: “They’re the last ones still f*cking voting for us.” The second frontbencher told Bethany Dawson they went door knocking over the weekend and found Starmer was “about as popular as cholera.” Continue reading...
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