Keir Starmer on the verge of appointing Labour grandee to key post at start of Trump presidency
Last month Peter Mandelson suggested that Keir Starmer should use Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, as an intermediary with the Trump administration. In a post this morning on social media, Robert Peston, the ITV political editor, says this almost led to him not getting the US ambassador job. He says:
It is no anomaly that Mandelson was a shoo-in for this job earlier in the autumn, till he remarked that maybe Starmer should use Farage’s good offices to build a relationship with Trump. According to senior diplomats, that public suggestion did not endear himself to Starmer and almost cost Mandelson the keys to the UK’s magnificent DC diplomatic residence.
But Starmer, as is becoming his habit, has made a bold call in appointing him. Whether it is the taxes he chooses to impose or the money he chooses to withhold from the vulnerable, the PM is not shying away from decisions that are neither populist or popular.
Backed by the biggest boost to GP funding in years – an extra £889m on top of the existing budget for general practice – the proposals would also bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to ensure patients most in need see the same doctor at every GP appointment …
Currently, GPs must perform against a range of targets in order to receive certain financial incentives under a scheme called The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), piling added pressure onto already overstretched doctors.
We promised to bring back the family doctor, but we want to be judged by results – not promises. That’s why we will incentivise GPs to ensure more and more patients see the same doctor at each appointment.