Nigel Farage clashes with Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4
Sir Keir Starmer has thrown his support behind the sacking of Dame Alison Rose late last night, just hours after a Labour spokesman refused to endorse the move.
The Labour leader told BBC 5Live that NatWest “got this one wrong” and Dame Alison “had to resign”.
Sir Keir said he felt sorry for Nigel Farage, and added “he shouldn’t have had his personal details revealed like that”.
He said: “It doesn’t matter who you are, that’s a general rule.”
Sir Keir clarified his view that nobody “should be refused banking services because of their political views, whoever they are… save for extreme circumstances such as terrorism etcetera”.
READ MORE: Humiliated Alison Rose sacked from two major Downing Street roles
While Sir Keir sounded emphatic on the BBC, Labour’s line up until this point has been much harder to pin down.
Appearing on the morning media round, Sir Keir’s Shadow Trade Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds refused to endorse Dame Alison’s resignation.
Despite the taxpayer owning 39 percent of NatWest, Labour’s official line seemed to be one of refusing to comment on the scandal, and accusing Rishi Sunak of acting quicker over the Natwest furore than on matters of their own ministerial standards.
The BBC’s Nick Robinson accused Mr Thomas-Symonds of trying to “talk about something else”.
Mr Thomas-Symonds seemed to suggest that a Labour Government wouldn’t have put pressure on the Natwest boss and could have allowed her to continue in the multi-million-pound-a-year job.
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A Treasury source accused Sir Keir of “throwing Nick Thomas-Symonds under the bus”.
Following the Shadow Trade Secretary’s interview this morning, another Government source said the refusal to back Dame Alison’s resignation was proof that Labour’s support for free speech “is entirely dependent on whether they agree with you or not”.
They said: “It’s a chilling position to take. Free speech within the law, and the legitimate expression of differing views, is an important British liberty. A fundamental value clearly not shared by today’s Labour Party.”
In July 2022, Sir Keir visited Dame Alison at NatWest, to “show how Labour will drive the skills, access and finance to help our businesses thrive”.
This morning the Government sacked Dame Alison from two key advisory roles in Government – the Prime Minister’s business Taskforce, and the Net Zero department’s Energy Efficiency Taskforce.
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