Presumably it’s alarm bells and action stations in Downing Street as the PM loses the support of Ian Dunce Dunt. The Streeting Fight was a step too far…
Usually an unpaid Starmer propagandist, Dunt wrote in the i paper late this morning:
“Starmer put these members of staff in charge. He either signed off on the briefing war, in which case he’s culpable, or he did not, in which case he has lost control of his operation. Either way, yesterday’s developments reflect very badly on him indeed.”
He howled that “none of this is in any way new. We’ve just lived through 14 years of it – an endless merry-go-round of Tory leaders and ministers, engaged in a perpetual mutual blood-letting, pausing occasionally for an election before returning to their narcissism, a circus in place of a government.” The quiet? Where is the quiet?
“But damn it – Starmer was supposed to be better than this. He was our last chance to show that a competent centre-left government works and can provide answers that populism never will.“
Damn it!
Asked about briefings that Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham were plotting to replace him, Starmer said:
“My message would be very much that every minute that we are not talking about the cost of living, and straining every sinew to ensure that those that need our help in relation to the cost of living and feeling better off, and having a better health service, and feeling safer and more secure in their community, is a minute wasted.”