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…
Crisis meetings are going on in Downing Street at the highest level. Senior No10 staff are working overtime on damage control…
It has been noted by observers inside No10 that some high-level meetings are taking place without the Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney. The PLP’s demands for McSweeney’s head have this week reached fever pitch over his role in appointing Peter Mandelson…
Insiders tell Guido that some top-level staff inside Starmer’s operation have privately discussed a removal of McSweeney and are advising the PM on that basis. A Downing Street source said: “It’s unclear how Morgan will react and still unclear if the PM will do all of this.” Starmer has resisted pressure from top Blairite aides to sack the McIavelli before…
Starmer watchers have long tried to game how long the PM would survive without the man who delivered him to Downing Street. Tom Baldwin is licking his lips…
Guido hears Downing Street staff are looking at proposals produced by activist ex-PM Gordon Brown for vetting reform. The ex-PM is this weekend running an intensive political cover operation for Starmer, insisting both he and the PM were both “betrayed” and “misled” by Mandelson…
Brown proposes, among other things in his personal wish list, implementing an independent anti-corruption commission appointed by parliament, US Senate-style parliamentary grillings of appointees to major posts, and statutory powers for the new ethics and integrity commission. Guido hears discussions are also taking place with regard to changes to the No10 political operation that would bolster the influence of the Parliamentary Labour Party in Downing Street…
Guido hears Tim Allan, director of communications in Downing Street, has commissioned a redesign of HM Government’s Coat of Arms to make it look more ‘accessible.’ This is the man running the Labour government’s messaging in its worst month yet…
The government’s Coat of Arms is updated at the start of each monarch’s reign and denotes that authority of the government to act on behalf of said monarch. That one was last updated when Charles ascended…
The government for its own communications always uses “a simplified version of this for our Coat of Arms, known as the Lesser Arms. For communication purposes, there is a simpler, silhouette version of this Lesser Arms used.” It looks like this:
Most co-conspirators would agree the baroque imagery is nice. Guido hears Allan disagrees and believes it is too fusty – hence he has commissioned a redesign. Cue a blandification of the government’s own branding. Does this government have the capacity to leave literally anything well enough alone…
Let’s see Tim Allan’s coat of arms…
Downing Street is in bunker mode tonight. Insider veterans of political crises will recall that things get awfully quiet in these periods…
Guido hears senior No10 staff are privately meeting with Starmer in crisis talks tonight. A Downing Street source tells Guido it’s “not at all clear that McSweeney will survive” the coming hours and days. That notwithstanding McSweeney’s key defence remains – a No10 source said: “Starmer is very wedded to him and fears of a domino effect might protect him”…
Individuals inside Downing Street say the mood is “quietly bleak.” The government staved off a political death through a last minute Commons deal with the Tories. Things could move quickly now…
Amid the Mandelson blow up, discussions are underway in Downing Street with regard to Starmer’s political future. Including a reshuffle post-May elections…
The aim is to placate the Parliamentary Labour Party/soft left. No10 insiders are pricing in an attempt to bring Angela Rayner back into the fold to help on that. Starmer extended an olive branch in public on Monday. Two things could stymie that attempt: the timeline of HMRC’s investigation into her tax affairs, and her actual willingness to take on the job. As Guido’s Labour Wars column pointed out on Monday, Rayner will need to know that she has a secure post-Starmer future before heading back in…
Faith held in the new Labour backbench intake, comparatively large numbers of whom were promoted into government in 2024, has fallen away. Older intakes have never been rated highly by Starmer’s operation. That leaves one clear option – recruit more from outside. A Downing Street source says moves to “refresh or add a few more lords like Patrick Vallance” who can “get stuff done” are being discussed. A shake-up could also attempt to resolve issues in the Cabinet Office like moving the top team along or even removing the Cabinet Secretary himself…
There is gossip too about Cabinet moves. Spin the wheel…
Discussions are underway about moving David Lammy on from the MoJ. One senior government source tells Guido he is “singularly unable to grip the MoJ and won’t deal with a very poor top team of officials.” A SpAd clearout under Lammy is ongoing – longtimer Ben Judah is gone and there were discussions about other senior exits. Sources close to the Justice Secretary speculate that Lammy could simply retain the DPM role. His love of luxury trappings and foreign travel is a running joke in Whitehall…
There are whispers now at the heart of SW1 about the huge red lever labelled ‘eject Rachel Reeves.’ It would be seismic…
Spin from both the Treasury and Downing Street in the run up to the last Budget sought to tie Starmer and Reeves’ fates together. Now the Budget is a few stops back – tempora mutantur…
A Downing Street source tells Guido there is “increasing speculation that Reeves has become moveable now we’ve gone beyond the Budget.” Another senior Labour source said: “Who has the PLP blamed most frequently for the shambles so far? Reeves.” A third government source added that the Chancellor is diminished – her absence from the China trip is a hot topic in SW1 – and increasingly battered by No10 on major policy fights. Think, farming, business rates, and about ten others in the last six months…
More difficult is trying to demote or sack Miliband, who would cause far too much trouble. Downing Street has long speculated that Ed fancies himself a go with the red box…
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.”
