Such is the furious pitch of the war between the Streeting camp and the No10 team that staff in Downing Street were last night discussing whether to sack the Health Secretary. Circular firing squad…
Streeting has been accused by No10 of co-ordinating with Anas Sarwar over the weekend to come out against Starmer. His team denies this. The Health Secretary has also released some of his (erudite and Starmer-critical) WhatsApp messages with Peter Mandelson in order to stave off claims from rival leadership teams that he was too close to the disgraced ex-ambassador. A communications flurry – ironically sharing ministerial texts with Mandelson has now been banned by Cabinet Office civil servants after Wes’ stunt…
Guido hears discussions were not raised with the PM’s level, though serious proposals were considered to remove Streeting from post, in order to make an example of him to assert Starmer’s authority after the Sarwar intervention was shot down. A No10 source says acting joint Chief of Staff Vidhya Alakeson led the overexcited planning effort against Streeting…
A Downing Street source tells Guido the situation has calmed overnight, though some expect Political Cabinet today to produce fireworks. No10 staff are furious at Streeting who is perceived as far more actively jostling for the leadership than any other would-be contender. Ed Miliband made calls this morning to “moveon.org” from the briefing and focus on entirely changing Starmer’s policy agenda. The PM’s trolley rattles on with about one wheel left…
Wes Streeting is launching a defence of his position tonight. His allies have accused No10 of attempting to brief against him. There were claims that the Health Secretary was co-ordinating with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who called for the PM to resign today…
A No10 source tells Guido “Wes is right to be annoyed at briefing today,” adding: “There were several meetings today dedicated to ****ing him over. People are trying to find any angle to go after him, even more so than Angela.” Toxic…
Streeting is also releasing details of his private WhatsApp messages with Peter Mandelson in order to stave off attacks from opponents who claim he is tarred by the Prince of Darkness brush via his close relationship Mandelson. Also lettings Labour MPs know what his leadership positions are. Big effort underway here…
Starmer got a standing ovation from the PLP at his meeting with them tonight. Obviously…
Rayner has always been strident in her support for a general election post-change of PM. As Guido catalogued on Friday…
She isn’t the only leadership contender to have made such deep principles clear to the public in the past. Stand up, Wes…
Here’s Streeting in 2022 calling for a general election because changing Tory PMs had lost the mandate of the people:
And twice in 2023 spelling out that Sunak had no mandate from the public:
Needless to say both Streeting and Rayner will be massively hypocritical if they enter No10 and refuse to call an election. Perish the thought…
Amid an increasingly bitter briefing war between teams Rayner and Streeting the Times reports that some Labour MPs are getting ready to lend their staff to a Wes leadership campaign when it comes, suggesting annual leave is held back in order to do so. Candidates to be increasingly resemble coiled vipers as Starmer’s premiership falls apart…
Eagle-eyed Labour watchers have spotted that Wes Streeting’s husband has been doing some spring cleaning on his LinkedIn CV. Before:
After:
Dancey must have been reminiscing about his Labour career. Gone is any reference to the fact that Dancey worked for Peter Mandelson. For good measure he’s also got rid of his pitiful 2024 election performance in which he lost to Matt Vickers…
Parliamentary sources tell Guido Mr Dancey is still acting vaguely like an MP in his local area. Not much else to do after he was fired from Labour HQ…
Business Secretary Peter Kyle has given a stern rebuke to the Labour figures agitating for a return to the EU Customs Union. Mainly Wes Streeting…
The Health Secretary has used the line repeatedly to corral support from europhile Labour backbenchers in his leadership bid. Kyle has used an overnight interview with the FT to issue a rebuke:
“When it comes to a customs union, I understand why Lib Dem utopianism is so seductive. It took us four years to leave the customs union. Do people really think we can join the customs union quicker than it took to leave the customs union?.. I think at the moment it would be foolish to slip towards what would be simple solutions. What gives me anxiety is growth this year… that gives me more concern than not being in the customs union.”
As anyone with a cursory knowledge of blocs like the EU will know, it would be economically illiterate even for EU fans to only rejoin the Customs Union and not the Single Market. It would also take years and the EU would extract the highest of prices. Not that that’s stopped Labour before…
Wes Streeting has doubled down on comments that Labour should “get it right the first time” after Kemi used his words to mock Starmer in PMQs yesterday. Thirteen U-turns later…
He told Time Radio:
“…feedback is the breakfast of champions. So if we get something wrong and people tell us that and we think their arguments are convincing, far better that we swallow our pride and get it right and fix it than just soldier on. And, you know, with complete indifference to whether or not we’re making the right decision or the wrong decision. So I don’t have a problem with that. But as I said, in the NHS, we’ve got an initiative called GIRFT, which is Get It Right First Time. And what I said was that ought to be our New Year’s resolution as a government in 2026. Mistakes, we’ve made some. Sure, I dare say we will make some in the future, myself included.”
Not exactly words of confidence in the Labour leadership…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”
