Tag: resignation

STARMER TO GO

Sir Keir Starmer has announced he is stepping down as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party, here is his resignation speech in full:

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1XGyggXMDAnxM

Thank you. Thank you. Walking up this street two years ago was the proudest moment of my life. A new Labour government. The first in 14 years. A page in our country’s history turned after years of disappointment and despair.

The chance to change the lives of millions of people for the better. That’s what I came into politics for. The journey to that point was not easy.

Six years ago, I inherited a Labour Party that was politically, financially and morally bankrupt. I was told, time and time again, that my party was finished.

That we were consigned to history, that a majority at the general election, let alone a landslide majority, was impossible. But we proved those people wrong because we changed our party.

Ripping out the poison of antisemitism, restoring trust on the economy, defence, and national security.

And becoming a party that, once again, stood proudly with, not against, our national flag. The hard work of change was with a singular purpose. Not power for power’s sake but to change Britain for the better.

To build a fairer country, with dignity and respect, where everyone is seen, everyone is valued. Wealth and opportunity for all, not just the privileged few. And look at what we’ve achieved in just two years.

An economy that is stronger, growing faster than our peers. Wages rising faster than inflation in every single month since we came to power. Investment secured, infrastructure being built. An end to austerity, with the fastest fall in NHS waiting lists for 17 years.

The biggest improvement in rights for workers and renters in a generation. The biggest uplift in defence spending since the Cold War. Small boat crossings falling, asylum hotels closing, protecting young people from social media, and half a million children being lifted out of poverty because of the choices that I made.

Our reputation in the world restored, with Britain once again standing up for decency, respect and the rule of law. Securing trade dues, standing with Ukraine, standing up for our values, and rebuilding our relationship with our allies in Europe.

Change promised by a Labour government. Change fought for by a Labour government, change delivered by a Labour government.

But I know the question being asked now is not who was best placed to change the Labour Party, to take us into power, and to begin the vital work of improving lives for millions of people. Those questions have been answered.

The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question. And I accept that answer with good grace.

Every decision I’ve taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party. I have spoken to His Majesty the King this morning to inform him of my decision.

I will ask the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party to set out a timetable with nominations opening on 9 July and completed by the summer recess. In the case of a contest, this will ensure a new leader is in place before Parliament returns in September.

I will remain in post as Prime Minister until the contest is complete. And I will do everything I can to ensure an orderly handover of power.

I will also give my successor my full and unequivocal support, knowing that they will inherit a Britain that is far stronger and fairer than the one I inherited two years ago, better prepared for the challenges ahead, and better able to ensure the Labour Party secures a second term in office.

I want to thank all of those friends and colleagues who have been at my side for these past six years or so for their incredible commitment, service and support.

I want to thank the brilliant No 10 staff and our country’s extraordinary civil service, who dedicate their lives to public service.

And when I leave, the biggest job in the country. I shall spend more time on the most important job. Being the best husband I can to my fantastic wife, Vic, who has been a rock by my side, through good times and bad. And being the best dad I can to my beautiful children, who are my pride and my joy.

Thank you very much.

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1XGyggXMDAnxM

COMMENTS:

Tracy Gilbert MP

“Keir Starmer led the Labour Party to a historic landslide victory in 2024, ending fourteen years of Conservative government.

“Since then, he has overseen a period of significant reform and renewal under the most difficult circumstances.

“He led the biggest improvement in workers’ and renters’ rights in a generation, alongside the introduction of the Employment Rights Bill, which formed part of a wider programme to rebuild economic security and fairness. 

“He has rebuilt our relationship with Europe and has proven to have been able to represent the UKs interests on the international stage.  

“Most importantly, he lifted hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty through deliberate policy choices aimed at improving lives across the UK including the removal of the two-child benefit cap.  

“I wish him and his family well for the future and thank him for his service to the country at a pivotal moment in its history.”

Brian Leishman MP:

“A change of Prime Minister must mean a change in direction.

“This Labour government still has time to transform the country and improve the lives of millions of people.

“It’s time for real Labour policies that will make people better off and our country a fairer place.”

Momentum:

Socialist Labour …

 Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn:

‘Keir Starmer could have ended child poverty, homelessness and the grotesque levels of inequality in this country.

‘Instead, he abandoned those in need, destroyed our civil liberties and facilitated genocide in Gaza.

‘That is how this Prime Minister will be remembered – and that is the legacy of moral and political bankruptcy he leaves behind.

‘The crises in our society are not going away. Neither are we – and we will keep fighting for a more equal, peaceful and dignified society for all.’

STUC:

FBU general secretary, Steve Wright said: “Whoever replaces Keir Starmer needs to be clear that the status quo has to change.

“The reason we find ourselves with yet another PM standing down is that, like May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak before him, Starmer failed to break with the perceived wisdom of attacking public services, failing to tackle wealth inequality, whilst letting privatised public utilities rip off the people of this country.

“A new Labour leader needs to learn that lesson and learn it fast.

“For FBU members, this means stepping in to end the threat of fire station closures that puts our members and the public’s lives at risk.

“There needs to be investment in the fire and rescue service alongside other public services, and as an affiliated trade union, we will be putting that position before any candidate in a leadership election.

“We cannot have more of the same. If we do, then whoever is elected will inevitably have failed in their role and will be out of office at the earliest opportunity.

“The chance to break with the narrative of the past is now, learn the lessons that previous Prime Ministers failed to do and deliver a better future for our members and the people of this country.”

Minister for Parliamentary Business resigns

JAMIE HEPBURN LEAVES GOVERNMENT

Minister for Parliamentary Business Jamie Hepburn has tendered his resignation from government and the First Minister has accepted.

Mr Hepburn joined the Scottish Government in 2014 as Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health. He was appointed Minister for Employability and Training in 2016, Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills in 2018, Minister for Independence in 2023, before being appointed as Minister for Parliamentary Business in May 2024.

Changes to the ministerial team will be announced in due course.

See full text of the letters from Mr Hepburn and the First Minister below:

Letter from Mr Hepburn:

Dear First Minister,

Over the course of yesterday evening and today I have been reflecting on the incident that has been widely reported in the media in the last two days and discussing it with my family. I have come to conclude that I want to offer my resignation as your Minister for Parliamentary Business.

I understand that that a complaint has been made to you with a suggestion that I be referred to the Independent Advisers on the Scottish Ministerial Code.

Irrespective of whether or not the Ministerial Code has been breached, even if there had been no complaint made, I believe I have not acted in accordance with my own personal code of practice. This decision is one that I feel is for the best in these circumstances and the one that for my own part feel is the appropriate course of action.

I hope it would be felt by most, and not least you, that in my personal and professional undertakings I have always tried to act courteously in interacting with colleagues, either of our own party or others.  There is no denying that my interaction with Douglas Ross fell well short of that standard. 

Despite whatever annoyance I felt at that particular moment, there is a manner in which that might have been conveyed, or indeed shouldn’t have been conveyed.  That is not in utilising the language that I did.  I hope it is recognised on your part and others that this behaviour was quite out of character on my part.

I do not want to cause any distraction for you or the Government, or indeed to that of the primary position of responsibility I have as the constituency representative for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth.  I believe my continued presence as one of your Ministers would do so.  In such circumstances I believe it is best that I stand down with immediate effect.

With no sense of personal pity, having served continuously in Government for almost eleven years it is a source of regret that my tenure in Ministerial office comes to an end in this fashion. 

In the immediate period it will be the greater part of what is reported out of my time in office, but I hope it is felt that I have made a positive contribution across the various roles I have held serving in your government and that of your two predecessors.  Others will of course be the judge of that.

I am grateful to you for the support you have shown me during my time as a Minister and you can be assured of my ongoing support for you and the Government in this critical period.

Yours sincerely

Jamie Hepburn

Letter from the First Minister:

Dear Jamie,

It is with much personal regret that I accept your letter of resignation as Minister for Parliamentary Business.

I am deeply grateful for your efforts on behalf of the Government, where you have always worked across Parliament in accommodating the requests and views of other parties over the matters that should command the time and attention of the chamber. I know there will be no one more frustrated than you, over this one slip in your normal approach of courtesy and respect to all.

I know that my predecessors also valued the contributions that you made in their governments. Your work in delivering the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 while a Health Minister has made a real difference in the lives of carers, and the people they care for. While Business Minister you championed support for consumers and were instrumental in the establishment of Consumer Scotland.

As we progress toward independence, I appreciate the work that you carried out as Minister for Independence to make the case for a better future for our nation. And during the Covid pandemic, I recall our work together in supporting the business sector and your efforts to support the recovery in higher and further education during your time in the Education portfolio.

Your efforts as a Minister have benefited the people of Scotland in myriad walks of life. Despite your decision to step down, you will continue to play an important role in our Party and in public life, as well as continuing to be a vocal advocate for the people of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth.

You leave office with my warmest thanks and my appreciation for the constant support that you have given to me.

Yours for Scotland,

John Swinney

Blow for Starmer as cabinet minister resigns over cut to overseas aid

ANNELIESE Dodds has resigned following prime minister Keir Starmer’s decision to cut overseas development aid funding to boost defence spending.

Ms Dodds said: “It is with sadness that I have had to tender my resignation as Minister for International Development and for Women and Equalities.

“While I disagree with the ODA decision, I continue to support the government and its determination to deliver the change our country needs.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer responded:

Letter_from_the_Prime_MinisterDownload

Ms Dodds’ replacement has been announced:

Welby Resigns At Last

ARCHBISHOP of CANTERBURY JUSTIN WELBY HAS RESIGNED

His statement reads:

Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth.

When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow. 

It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024. 

It is my duty to honour my Constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed, including those in England and in the Anglican Communion. 

I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church. As I step down I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse. 

The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England.

For nearly twelve years I have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to judge what has been done.

In the meantime, I will follow through on my commitment to meet victims. I will delegate all my other current responsibilities for safeguarding until the necessary risk assessment process is complete.

I ask everyone to keep my wife Caroline and my children in their prayers. They have been my most important support throughout my ministry, and I am eternally grateful for their sacrifice. Caroline led the spouses’ programme during the Lambeth Conference and has travelled tirelessly in areas of conflict supporting the most vulnerable, the women, and those who care for them locally.

I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honoured to serve. I pray that this decision points us back towards the love that Jesus Christ has for every one of us. 

For above all else, my deepest commitment is to the person of Jesus Christ, my saviour and my God; the bearer of the sins and burdens of the world, and the hope of every person.

Finding support

If you or anyone you are in contact with are affected by the publication of this report and want to talk to someone independently please call the Safe Spaces helpline on 0300 303 1056 or visit safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk.

Alternatively, you may wish to contact the diocesan safeguarding team in your area or the National Safeguarding Team at safeguarding@churchofengland.org.

There are also other support services available.

Starmer’s Labour all about greed and power, says resigning Labour MP

CANTERBURY MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party, criticising Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – now labelled Free Gear Keir – for accepting thousands of pounds worth of personal items while at the same time removing Winter Fuel Payments from thousands of struggling pensioners.

Ms Duffield will now sit as an Independent MP.

Her scathingly critical letter is below:

Health Secretary Michael Matheson quits over iPad debacle

DAMNING REPORT SEALS MINISTER’s FATE

Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care Michael Matheson has tendered his resignation to the First Minister.

Accepting his resignation, the First Minister thanked Mr Matheson for all he achieved during government, including securing £100 million of new annual funding for NHS Scotland to help reduce inpatient and day-case waiting lists, passing the Domestic Abuse Act to strengthen powers to tackle psychological abuse, passing the Transport Scotland Act to ensure Scotland’s transport system was more accessible for the future and introducing the Historical Offenses Bill to pardon gay men convinced under historical discriminatory laws.

MICHAEL MATHESON STATEMENT:

Odd timing, given he hasn’t seen the final report yet. And not a word of apology …

The Scottish Conservatives have been calling for the Health Secretary’s head for some time – and not only over his failure to fully explain the Ipad issue:

‘Waiting times in Scotland’s A&E departments continue to get worse under the SNP’s shameful mismanagement of our NHS.

‘The SNP have not met their target waiting time since July 2020, yet still Michael Matheson refuses to tackle this growing problem – he needs to go.’

HE HAS NOW.

FMQ’s will be interesting today …

Scotland’s Drugs and Alcohol Minister steps down

Elena Whitham leaves government

Drugs and Alcohol Policy Minister Elena Whitham has tendered her resignation to the First Minister and stepped down from her ministerial post for health reasons.

Ms Whitham was appointed to the post in March last year, after previously serving as Minister for Community Safety.

Accepting her resignation, the First Minister thanked her for her service and said that he greatly valued her efforts to tackle alcohol and drug-related deaths, particularly her work to take forward proposals for reviewing drug laws.

Elena Whitham’s letter to the First Minister:

Dear Humza,

Over the last year I experienced a series of events leading to post traumatic stress which has impacted my wellbeing greatly and for which I am receiving treatment. I have sought to undertake my role in your government diligently and with the passion and focus that it requires. Sadly, after much soul searching, it is apparent to me that I must regrettably resign from my ministerial role so that I am able to look after my wellbeing and ensure my constituents of Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley continue to be represented assiduously.

It has been the greatest honour to be first the Minister for Community Safety and latterly the Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy. Both of these roles are areas I am passionate about having been a Women’s Aid worker and someone who supported people dealing with multiple and complex needs including problematic substance use. I have been privileged to meet folk up and down the country who are working collectively to address the great harm Scotland is experiencing due to alcohol and other drugs…none more so than those with lived and living experience who have sought to speak truth to power. I am grateful to them and to all of the family members and organisations who took time to speak with me this last year.

I will continue to support the aims of the National Mission from the backbenches and in my constituency work. It is imperative that we strive with all of our might to continue our efforts to save and improve lives as we have lost far too many of our folk to wholly preventable deaths. Your government’s efforts to tackle poverty and inequality also play an integral role in the National Mission and the cross government plan set out last year continues to be vital to delivery.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity bestowed upon me, it truly has been an honour.

Yours sincerely

Elena Whitham MSP

First Minister’s letter to Elena Whitham:

I write to thank you for your service as Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy over the past year. I am greatly saddened to hear that due to your personal ill-health you feel you cannot continue to give the role the focus that you would wish to.

I wanted you to be aware of how greatly I have valued your efforts to tackle alcohol and drug-related deaths – not least the work to take forward proposals for reviewing drug laws.

Similarly, I know the dedication that you brought to your previous role of Minister for Community Safety.

I believe our government has been enriched by your efforts and the experience that you have brought into public life.

I know that the people of Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley have in you a dedicated and conscientious public servant and I know you will continue to stand up for them to the very best of your ability.

INFAMY, INFAMY: JOHNSON RESIGNS AS MP

‘they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of Parliament’

Former Prime Minster Boris Johnson has announced that he is standing down as an MP, with immediate effect.

The announcement came this evening after Johnson received a report from the House of Commons Privileges Committee into whether he misled Parliament over lockdown parties at Downing Street.

THIS IS JOHNSON’s STATEMENT:

I have received a letter from the Privileges Committee making it clear – much to my amazement – that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of Parliament. 

They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons. 

They know perfectly well that when I spoke in the Commons, I was saying what I believed sincerely to be true and what I had been briefed to say, like any other minister. They know that I corrected the record as soon as possible; and they know that I and every other senior official and minister – including the current Prime Minister and then occupant of the same building, Rishi Sunak – believed that we were working lawfully together. 

I have been an MP since 2001. I take my responsibilities seriously. I did not lie, and I believe that in their hearts, the Committee know it. But they have wilfully chosen to ignore the truth, because from the outset, their purpose has not been to discover the truth, or genuinely to understand what was in my mind when I spoke in the Commons. 

Their purpose from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts. This is the very definition of a kangaroo court. 

Most members of the Committee – especially the chair – had already expressed deeply prejudicial remarks about my guilt before they had even seen the evidence. They should have recused themselves. 

In retrospect, it was naïve and trusting of me to think that these proceedings could be remotely useful or fair. But I was determined to believe in the system, and in justice, and to vindicate what I knew to be the truth.

It was the same faith in the impartiality of our systems that led me to commission Sue Gray. It is clear that my faith has been misplaced. Of course, it suits the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP to do whatever they can to remove me from Parliament. 

Sadly, as we saw in July last year, there are currently some Tory MPs who share that view. 

I am not alone in thinking that there is a witch hunt under way, to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result. 

My removal is the necessary first step, and I believe there has been a concerted attempt to bring it about. I am afraid I no longer believe that it is any coincidence that Sue Gray – who investigated gatherings in Number 10 – is now the chief of staff designate of the Labour leader. 

Nor do I believe that it is any coincidence that her supposedly impartial chief counsel, Daniel Stilitz KC, turned out to be a strong Labour supporter who repeatedly tweeted personal attacks on me and the government.  

When I left office last year, the government was only a handful of points behind in the polls. That gap has now massively widened. 

Just a few years after winning the biggest majority in almost half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk. 

Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do. 

We need to show how we are making the most of Brexit and we need in the next months to be setting out a pro-growth and pro-investment agenda. We need to cut business and personal taxes – and not just as pre-election gimmicks – rather than endlessly putting them up. 

We must not be afraid to be a properly Conservative government. 

Why have we so passively abandoned the prospect of a Free Trade Deal with the US? Why have we junked measures to help people into housing or to scrap EU directives or to promote animal welfare? 

We need to deliver on the 2019 manifesto, which was endorsed by 14 million people. We should remember that more than 17 million voted for Brexit. 

I am now being forced out of Parliament by a tiny handful of people, with no evidence to back up their assertions, and without the approval even of Conservative party members, let alone the wider electorate.

I believe that a dangerous and unsettling precedent is being set. 

The Conservative Party has the time to recover its mojo and its ambition and to win the next election. I had looked forward to providing enthusiastic support as a backbench MP. Harriet Harman’s committee has set out to make that objective completely untenable.

The Committee’s report is riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice, but under their absurd and unjust process, I have no formal ability to challenge anything they say. 

The Privileges Committee is there to protect the privileges of Parliament. That is a very important job. They should not be using their powers – which have only been very recently designed – to mount what is plainly a political hit job on someone they oppose. 

It is in no one’s interest, however, that the process the Committee has launched should continue for a single day further. 

So I have today written to my Association in Uxbridge and South Ruislip to say that I am stepping down forthwith and triggering an immediate by-election. 

I am very sorry to leave my wonderful constituency. It has been a huge honour to serve them, both as Mayor and MP.

But I am proud that after what is cumulatively a 15-year stint, I have helped to deliver, among other things, a vast new railway in the Elizabeth Line and full funding for a wonderful new state of the art hospital for Hillingdon, where enabling works have already begun. 

I also remain hugely proud of all that we achieved in my time in office as prime minister: getting Brexit done, winning the biggest majority for 40 years and delivering the fastest vaccine roll out of any major European country, as well as leading global support for Ukraine. 

It is very sad to be leaving Parliament – at least for now – but above all, I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically, by a committee chaired and managed, by Harriet Harman, with such egregious bias.

ONE of Johnson’s last acts – a final two-fingered salute to the British people – was to reward his cronies with peerages and other ‘honours’.

Some of Boris Johnson’s closest allies – including Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg – were awarded peerages in the former PM’s honours list, published just hours before Johnson stepped down as an MP.

Former secretaries of state Simon Clarke and Mr Rees-Mogg were knighted, while Ms Patel was made a dame.

Controversial Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and London Assembly member Shaun Bailey are among seven new peers.

No serving MPs were given peerages, thus avoiding tricky by-elections for the Tories. But there will now be one in Mr Johnson’s own constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip and another one in Nadine Dorries’ constituency.

Johnson devotee Nadine Dorries was not put forward for the House of Lords, despite widespread speculation she would be on the published list.

Ms Dorries stood down as an MP “with immediate effect” just an hour before the honours list was released, oddly enough.

TRUSS RESIGNS

PRIME Minister Liz Truss has resigned after just six weeks in post.

Truss, who yesterday declared she was ‘a fighter, not a quitter’, has, well, quit after just 45 days in the job.

Her resignation statement was equally short:

I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability.

Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills.

Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent.

And our country had been held back for too long by low economic growth.

I was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change this.

We delivered on energy bills and on cutting national insurance.

And we set out a vision for a low tax, high growth economy – that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.

I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.

I have therefore spoken to His Majesty The King to notify him that I am resigning as Leader of the Conservative Party.

This morning I met the Chair of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady.

We have agreed there will be a leadership election to be completed in the next week.

This will ensure we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security.

I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen.

Thank you.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted:”There are no words to describe this utter shambles adequately. It’s beyond hyperbole – & parody. Reality tho(ugh) is that ordinary people are paying the price.

“The interests of the Tory party should concern no-one right now. A General Election is now a democratic imperative.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos. We need a general election, now.”

His full statement:

Truss will remain as PM until her successor is elected – not by the people of Great Britain, but by Tory MPs.

NOW, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

Death throes of a dying Government?

CHAOTIC TORY GOVERNMENT LURCHES FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS

HOME SECRETARY RESIGNS

DEFIANT TRUSS CLINGS ON – FOR NOW

Suella Braveman’s scathing resignation letter:

Prime Minister’s response:

If the resignation of another senior government minister was serious enough, worse was to follow on a chaotic evening at Westminster as Tory whips were accused of bullying and physically manhandling MPs over a crucial vote on fracking.

Both the Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip resigned – or maybe they didn’t.

Chaos. Utter chaos.

At time of writing Liz Truss remains in post as Prime Minister, clinging on despite her authority collapsing around her. Whether she will still be there this evening is anyone’s guess.