Labour has hit back at the Conservatives after they accused Sir Keir Starmer of being a “part-time” prime minister for aiming to finish working at 6pm on Fridays.
The party has also been condemned by the Government’s antisemitism adviser, who has described the attacks as “dangerous.”
The Labour leader - whose wife Victoria is Jewish and observes traditional Shabbat dinners on Friday nights - has a 16-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter.
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On Monday, he told Virgin Radio: “We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after six o’clock, pretty well come what may.”
“There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.”
The comments led to attacks from a string of senior Tories.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said on X: “Virtually every military intervention we’ve carried out has happened at night, partly to keep our servicemen & women safe.
“The British people will wonder who would be standing in for Starmer between 6pm & 9am – Angela Rayner, David Lammy, Ed Miliband? Defending Britain’s security isn’t a daylight hours only job.”
Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho told LBC Radio: “I do think that it’s pretty unrealistic for a prime minister not to work past 6pm.
“I also think it’s a bit odd because they’re also saying they want to make people in the NHS work overtime and at weekends, so I think to do that on one hand, and on the other hand say that you’re not going to work past 6pm is a bit tin-eared.”
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Asked on Times Radio if he would work beyond 6pm on a Friday, Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “I’m sure I will be and I’m sure Keir will be doing so too.
“The attacks on him are a total disgrace and it shows how far these people have fallen, how heavily they’re scraping the barrel and why they need to be removed from office on Thursday.”
He added: “Let me say something about the Conservative Party. The party that turned Number 10 into a giant lockdown party now wants to lecture others on their work ethic.
“It’s a disgrace and the stench of their lies and hypocrisy is even more overwhelming than the vomit they left for Downing Street cleaners, and like those cleaners we’ll clean up the Tories’ mess too if we’re given the chance on Thursday, and as far as I’m concerned, given their behaviour this morning, that change can’t come soon enough.”
Lord Mann, a Labour peer who was appointed as antisemitism adviser by Theresa May, said: “The attack on Keir Starmer for asserting his right to family time on a Friday night, as he has done for many, many years, is so dangerous.
“So insidious from those aware of why he chooses to be with his family specifically on Friday evenings.”
He told the PA news agency: “It’s a very strange thing to attack over. I’m the independent adviser to the Prime Minister and my advice would be this is not an area to stray into.”
He pointed out that Friday nights had a wider cultural significance within the Jewish community, likening it to Sundays in Christian communities.
“There’s a reason Parliament does not sit on Sundays,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Greens have called on the next UK government to promote and normalise the many benefits of a four day working week.
The party themselves have already adopted a four day working week for staff, and says there have been “positive results.”
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Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “A four day week is an idea whose time has come. It would transform the way we work and have huge benefits for the health and wellbeing of our country.
“There are four day week trials taking place in Scotland, and we want them to be rolled out across all levels of government in the UK. But beyond that, we want to see governments working with employers and trade unions to identify how they can make the shift and what support they would need to do so.”
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