Ahead of the Batley on Spen by-election on June 1, the Labour leader has been warned Mr Galloway has the ability to make a "dramatic comeback" into UK politics. Despite failing to win a seat in the Scottish election, Mr Galloway, a former Labour MP himself, has the ability to "unnerve" his opponents, Tom Harris claimed. Mr Harris, former Labour MP for Glasgow South, said: "Galloway has faced electoral defeat before and has frequently managed to stage a dramatic comeback.
"That is what unnerves his political opponents even today.
"Because they recognise that he still has enough of a presence and the following to make waves."
Pressure is building on the current Labour leader after the Opposition lost the Hartlepool by-election earlier this month.
The party also suffered a horrendous council election campaign which saw them lose eight seats and 327 councillors.
In contrast, the Tories tightened their grip across the country by adding 13 councils and a further 235 councillors.
Ahead of the election in Batley and Spen next month, some have warned losing another seat to the Tories may be Sir Keir's downfall.
Mr Harris added: "The problem Labour face is that Galloway has veered so wildly between triumph and disaster during his long career, it is impossible to anticipate which direction his latest campaign will go.
"And in a contest already so unpredictable, in a political context so febrile and inhospitable to the current Labour Party, that is the most discomfiting aspect for Starmer."
"So, if for whatever reason you think that the current leader of the Labour Party needs to be replaced, I’m your man.”
The by-election was triggered after previous MP Tracy Babin was elected as mayor for West Yorkshire.
Labour has elected Kim Leadbitter, sister of Jo Cox, who held the seat until she was killed by a right-wing extremist.
The Tories have elected Leeds councillor Ryan Stephenson as their candidate.
The Yorkshire Party, which came third in the recent West Yorkshire mayoral election, said local engineer Corey Robinson would contest the by-election for them.
Following the loss of Hartlepool earlier this month, a Labour seat for 62 years, some within the Opposition claimed Sir Keir is not cutting through to the public.
A TikTok trend where teenagers use tiny magnets as fake tongue piercings has prompted the NHS to call for the metal balls to be banned.
The viral challenge involves people putting two magnetic balls on either side of their tongue to give the appearance of a tongue piercing.
But accidentally swallowing more than one magnet can be life-threatening and cause serious damage within hours.
The NHS said there has been a rise in hospital admissions among older children as many have taken part in the online craze, leading the NHS to issue a patient safety alert earlier this month.
An 11-year-old is among those who suffered serious complications after apparently swallowing several of the magnets, according to Worcester News.
Advertisement
Ellis Tripp was rushed to hospital and forced to undergo a six-hour operation to remove five inches of his bowel.
His mother, Amy Clarke, pleaded with other parents to watch out for the TikTok trend.
More on Nhs
"I'm in a nightmare. This TikTok craze could/would have killed him if left any longer. Please talk to your children and tell them how DANGEROUS THESE ARE," she wrote on Facebook.
A 13-year-old girl is also reported to have had major surgery after trying out the social media trend.
Her mother, Faye Elizabeth from Rainhill, said her daughter swallowed 15 of the magnetic beads, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The tiny balls are less than 6mm in diameter and can be easily swallowed.
Once ingested, they can become forced together in the intestines or bowels, squeezing the tissue and cutting off the blood supply.
At least 65 children have been admitted to hospital in England for urgent surgery after swallowing magnets in the last three years.
Professor Simon Kenny, paediatric surgeon and national clinical director for children and young people at NHS England, has called for the magnets to be banned.
He said: "There is nothing fun for children or their parents about surgery to remove magnets that have been swallowed and become stuck together through different parts of the intestines, or the long-term physical problems and internal scarring that can be left behind.
"I would urge parents to be aware of the dangers associated with magnetic toys but ultimately, the only way we can prevent future incidents is to stop these items being sold altogether."
The NHS said anyone who has swallowed magnets should not wait to develop symptoms and should instead go to A&E immediately.
FACE MASKS and home working could be sticking around after June 21 if cases of the Indian Covid variant keep rising.
Ministers are increasingly concerned about the spread of the virus and whether it has the potential to derail plans to lift all restrictions next month.
Whitehall insiders reckon this “big ticket” goal of scrapping the one metre rule would have the biggest impact on Brits’ lives and the economy.
Ministers reportedly want to enable festivals, concerts and sporting events to go ahead, by putting an end to rules that limit mass gatherings.
Getting punters back into packed boozers and restaurants is seen as absolutely crucial for hospitalityCredit: Getty
Brits could be donning facemasks for some time after June 21Credit: Getty
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said ministers are worried about the spread of the Indian variant
Downing Street has reportedly ditched the idea of Covid passports for pubs but is examining whether to press ahead with certificates to help unlock mass gatherings like gigs and sports events.
Prioritising the leisure industry could mean other restrictions remain in a partial unlocking.
A Treasury source told the Times the government was prepared for the worst-case scenario that the Indian variant led to a surge in hospital admissions.
In an effort attempt to reduce the spread of the virus, masks could still be required on public transport and in indoor public spaces.
Guidance stating that people must work from home if they can might also remain in place after June 21.
Boris Johnson is expected to make a decision on which restrictions can be lifted within the next fortnight.
Ministers will only make a final call on what measures - if any - can be ditched on June 21 nearer the time when they have all the health data.
But they will only press the button on the massive lockdown easing if the Covid data looks good enough.
While plans to allow Brits a handful of new freedoms may be on track, it seems likely that other restrictions will be around for a while longer.
A top scientist has said Brits should carry on working from home beyond the planned end of lockdown on June 21, in order to stop the spread of the Indian variant.
Professor Andrew Hayward, who sits on the Sage group of boffins that advises the Government, said some restrictions may need to stay in place for longer.
The top prof said full reopening may have to be delayed until a higher proportion of the population are fully vaccinated.
The UK yesterday recorded more than 4,000 coronavirus cases - the first time this number had been topped since April.
The seven day total was 24 per cent higher than the week before, with close to three quarters of all new cases now the Indian variant.
But there are some very early signs that Covid cases in Bolton - the worst hit by Indian Covid - are starting to plateau.
Several scientific experts have said the trend is heading in the right direction.
Dr Helen Wall, the head of Bolton’s jabbing programme said “vaccines seem to be working” in stopping severe illness even among the hospitalised.
She told the BBC: “In terms of how ill they’re getting, I think the vaccine definitely seems to be working.
“We are not seeing, certainly not many people as sick as we would have done pre-vaccine, certainly the picture in hospital is much better to previous times when we’ve been at this position.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock wearing a Union Jack face mask earlier this weekCredit: Getty
Boris Johnson casts fresh doubt on June 21 freedom day and says 'we might have to wait'
Boris Johnson spent Wednesday doing his best to ignore the extraordinary events unfolding a few hundred yards away in parliament as Dominic Cummings gave his explosive evidence to MPs.
While Cummings was castigating his former employer as unfit for office, Johnson was getting ready for prime minister’s questions in the Cabinet room where the television wasn’t on.
Elsewhere in Downing Street, however, Cummings was unavoidable. “He was absolutely everywhere,” one Number 10 aide said. “People were trying to work but because Sky and the BBC were on in every department you just couldn’t avoid it.”
Privately, Johnson is said to be relieved that the hearing, which has been anticipated for months, is over. “He feels pissed off and let down, but he’s not worried about
Boris Johnson 'cut Matt Hancock out of No.10 meetings after the Covid care home fiasco' - and pair's relationship became 'really bad' as death toll soared, says source
Prime Ministers doubts said to have grown after patients sent to care homes
Source said Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock's relationship soured
Relationship became 'really bad' as coronavirus death toll soared, source said
Damning allegations follow Wednesday's withering attack on Mr Hancock
The crisis for Matt Hancock deepened last night after it was claimed Boris Johnson had so lost confidence in the under-fire Health Secretary he was cut out of No 10 meetings last year.
The Prime Minister’s doubts were said to have grown after hospital patients were sent to care homes without first being tested for Covid in the early weeks of the pandemic – with disastrous results.
A source said the pair’s relationship became ‘really bad’ as the coronavirus death toll soared.
The damning allegations follow Wednesday’s withering attack on Mr Hancock by Dominic Cummings.
The Prime Minister’s former chief adviser told MPs that claims the Government had protected care homes were ‘complete nonsense’ and that ‘tens of thousands of people died, who didn’t need to die’ as a result of the mistakes made.
Last night, the source claimed Mr Johnson would deliberately exclude Mr Hancock from some meetings with advisers such as NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens and chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty.
Damning allegations follow Wednesday’s withering attack on Matt Hancock (pictured) by Dominic Cummings
‘It got to the point where the PM had to check every claim he made to check it was accurate,’ the source said.
‘There were situations when he was cut out of meetings so the PM could get a proper account of what was happening. He would not be invited.
‘Sometimes when he would turn up anyway. He would just rock up and the PM would do this eye roll. When the care home stuff got really bad, the PM totally lost faith in Matt, but said he could not fire him because of how it would look to sack a health secretary in the middle of a pandemic. There were certainly conversations had about firing him, multiple conversations.
Last night, the source claimed Mr Johnson (pictured) would deliberately exclude Mr Hancock from some meetings with advisers such as NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens and chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty
‘The problem is he is the sort of person to say day is night. He would not answer straight questions and would be evasive. It is like nailing jelly to a wall.’ However, a source close to Mr Hancock said it was ‘emphatically untrue’ that he had been cut out of briefings.
And Cabinet ministers flocked to the Health Secretary’s defence as he came under sustained pressure from the social care industry over the decision to move untested hospital patients into care homes.
The head of the UK’s largest charity care home provider said the move had been like ‘putting a live explosive in a box of tinder’.
Sam Monaghan, chief executive of MHA, told Times Radio: ‘Obviously you had the pressure from the NHS, which we quite understood. But there’s no way that you can take people into care homes who aren’t tested. Care home residents were seen as somehow an inevitable casualty of this.’
Mr Hancock told a Downing Street briefing on Thursday that it was not possible to test everyone because of a lack of capacity at that time.
Yesterday Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng stressed the ‘difficult’ task Mr Hancock has faced while tackling the pandemic.
Cabinet ministers flocked to the Health Secretary’s defence as he came under sustained pressure from the social care industry over the decision to move untested hospital patients into care homes. Pictured, Mr Cummings
‘I think what Matt stressed very carefully yesterday was that he was absolutely focused, right from the start of the pandemic, on saving people’s lives,’ he told Sky News.
‘He was in a difficult situation as the Health Secretary, in a pandemic, the like of which we hadn’t seen for 100 years. He was under huge pressure.
‘And as a Cabinet colleague, I know that he worked really hard and very few people, if anyone, worked as hard as he did and he was very committed to saving lives.
‘Now he said what he said, I fully believe him but we’ll have an inquiry and that will iron out all these facts.’
Asked later whether Mr Hancock should keep his job, Mr Kwarteng replied: ‘Absolutely... there hasn’t been anyone in Government that’s been more focused on saving lives, protecting the NHS.’
An ally of the Health Secretary said: ‘Matt completely rejects the claims made by Dom around honesty, including in relation to testing. Sadly, Dom made building the testing capacity we needed more difficult.’
A man has been charged in connection with the attempted murder of activist Sasha Johnson.
Cameron Deriggs, 18, of Lewisham, has been charged with conspiracy to murder.
Ms Johnson, 27, was shot in Southwark, London, on Sunday 23 May and remains in a critical condition in hospital.
She is an Oxford graduate and has two children
Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Police said they had arrested five men in connection with the incident, with the other four now bailed until later in June.
Advertisement
Deriggs will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court tomorrow.
Ms Johnson was one of the organisers of the first-ever Million People March last August to protest against systemic racism in the UK. During the demonstration, hundreds of people took to the streets of west London.
She is also one of the leaders of the Taking The Initiative Party (TTIP), a political party that was registered with the Electoral Commission nearly four years ago and fielded its first candidates in May's local elections.
