Keir Starmer on brink of quitting as UK prime minister

{"text":[[{"start":6.8,"text":"Sir Keir Starmer is on the brink of resigning as prime minister, according to his allies, in a move that could pave the way for Andy Burnham to become Britain’s seventh leader in the decade since Brexit."}],[{"start":17.15,"text":"Colleagues expect Starmer to agree to an “orderly” timetable for a transition of power, in the face of a growing cabinet revolt and the evaporation of support from Labour MPs."}],[{"start":27.9,"text":"The premier has spent an agonising weekend consulting ministers, friends and his family following a storming Westminster by-election victory by Burnham."}],[{"start":37.25,"text":"Friends of the prime minister say that an announcement of his departure could come as early as Monday, although one confidant said: “It’s heading that way, but no final decision has been taken.”"}],[{"start":48.2,"text":"Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper joined other ministers including home secretary Shabana Mahmood and energy secretary Ed Miliband in urging Starmer to set a date for his exit from Number 10."}],[{"start":60.25,"text":"Jonathan Reynolds, chief whip, warned Starmer that support from Labour MPs was ebbing away while Douglas Alexander, Scotland secretary, also told the prime minister he should step down, according to people familiar with the matter. "}],[{"start":73.15,"text":"Spokespeople for the ministers concerned declined to comment on “private conversations”."}],[{"start":78.60000000000001,"text":"One cabinet minister said they expected Starmer to announce his departure from a podium in Downing Street — an increasingly familiar sight in Britain’s chaotic politics — on Monday, ahead of a planned statement to MPs on last week’s G7 summit in France."}],[{"start":93.05000000000001,"text":"Even Peter Kyle, business secretary and an arch-loyalist, refused on Sunday to say whether Starmer would carry out his vow to fight for his job and declined to say whether he had urged the prime minister to continue."}],[{"start":104.70000000000002,"text":"Kyle told Sky News that Starmer, who secured a landslide election victory just two years ago, was “trying to create the space where he can think and reflect on the political realities and challenges and opportunities that lie before us”."}],[{"start":119.40000000000002,"text":"Downing Street repeated Starmer’s position on Friday that he would “not walk away”."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":124.50000000000001,"text":"But confirming that Starmer’s job was in the balance, Kyle said the prime minister was considering “what putting country first means at a moment like this”. He added: “I’m not going to engage in what the days ahead look like.”"}],[{"start":140.4,"text":"A number of cabinet members told the FT that they would tell Starmer over the weekend to set an orderly timetable for a transition or risk a full-scale revolt at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting."}],[{"start":151.55,"text":"Burnham, who was elected Labour MP for Makerfield in a closely watched by-election on Thursday, will travel to Westminster on Monday to take his seat, with high expectations among Labour MPs that he will enter Number 10 in weeks."}],[{"start":166.15,"text":"The outgoing Greater Manchester mayor, seen by Labour MPs as a better communicator and more popular politician than Starmer, has proposed that the prime minister stay on for a period to allow a smooth transition."}],[{"start":178.55,"text":"Wes Streeting, former health secretary, has said he would contest the leadership. But some of his supporters believe he will strike a deal with Burnham and withdraw from the running in exchange for a senior cabinet post."}],[{"start":192.70000000000002,"text":"Luke Sullivan, Starmer’s former political director, told the FT: “I expect he will announce his intention to stand down in the next 24 hours because, as throughout his career, he always does what he believes is the right thing to do."}],[{"start":205.3,"text":"“This is a deeply sad moment for him personally, but he will have listened, his position was unsustainable. He will be remembered as a man of honour and decency who dedicated himself to public service and always acted in the national interest.”"}],[{"start":221.3,"text":"Ministers believe that Starmer will announce an exit date on Monday to avoid the prospect of mass resignations at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. "}],[{"start":228.95000000000002,"text":"“If he hasn’t said he is going by then, let’s see who turns up,” said one minister. Heidi Alexander, transport secretary, was the first cabinet member to tell Starmer to quit on Friday."}],[{"start":240.25000000000003,"text":"A favoured option among some cabinet members would be for Starmer to continue as prime minister through the summer, allowing a new leader to be anointed at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool and giving Burnham time to organise his team and flesh out what is at present only a sketchy plan for government."}],[{"start":258.3,"text":"Starmer would then lead talks at a UK-EU summit in Brussels on July 22, allowing him to claim as part of his legacy that he had put Britain back on a path to closer ties with the bloc, 10 years on from Brexit."}],[{"start":272.2,"text":"Since Britain voted to leave the EU on June 23 2016 it has had six prime ministers: Lord David Cameron, Baroness Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Starmer. Burnham would be the seventh."}],[{"start":287.8,"text":"More than 100 Labour MPs have called for Starmer to resign, a quarter of the parliamentary party. "}],[{"start":294.6,"text":"There are 403 Labour MPs, but 163 of them have government jobs and would have to resign if they called for Starmer, who is deeply unpopular with voters, to go. Many of those on the “payroll vote” privately want him to quit."}],[{"start":317.55000000000007,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1782050735_7648.mp3"}