Atticus Agenda (23/09/24)

The Labour Party Conference enters its second day, and Sir Keir Starmer and his team will be hoping the plethora of high-level speeches can distract away from the donation scandal and division within government currently dominating the headlines.

Last week government officials leaked the salary Sue Gray, Sir Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff, revealing she earns more than the Prime Minister. Such was the media storm that followed, Gray will not be attending Labour Party Conference this week. The Prime Minister insisted that he remained in control of the matter, despite continued leaks and rolling coverage of the topic.
 
Starmer’s week then went from bad to worse when it emerged he had accepted £100,000 in free tickets and gifts from Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli, including clothes worth £12,000 and glasses valued at £2,485. Starmer attempted to draw a line under it by announcing he would no longer accept donations for clothes, however other Cabinet members are now having to answer questions about donations they too have received from Lord Alli.  
 
Coupled with the likelihood of the Autumn Budget offering little in the way of good news, Sir Keir and his team have a tough few weeks ahead. As the Government appears to be going full steam ahead with plans to cut the Winter Fuel Allowance, Unite’s General Secretary Sharon Graham attacked the policy for being “cruel” and invited the Prime Minister to “say that he’s made a misstep and to reverse that policy.” Unite and the Communication Workers Union are expected to prove a thorn in the side of the leadership by forcing a debate and vote at conference to condemn the decision to axe the winter fuel allowance. 

Elsewhere, Reform UK held its party conference in Birmingham, with the party approving its new constitution, thereby giving members more say over the party’s leadership and policies. Previously, the party was a private limited company with its leader Nigel Farage holding the majority of the shares. At the conference, Farage took another a victory lap following the General Election, claiming that Reform represented the “silent majority” and promised to professionalise the party after a string of controversial candidates. 
 
In Europe, Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) were able to hold off the Alternative for Germany (AfD) from first place in the regional Brandenburg elections, with 30.9% versus 29.3%, with turnout topping 74%. The result offers a respite for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his increasingly fractious coalition.

Matters may even be a touch more fractious across the border in France with threats mounting of a no-confidence vote on Michel Barnier’s new Government. Former President François Hollande welcomed the potential of a no-confidence vote, declaring that it would be a “good solution.” Whether the far-left and far-right are able put aside bitter divisions and band together to bring down Barnier’s Government is yet to be seen.