Keir Starmer’s right-hand man, Morgan McSweeney, personally signed off on the leadership briefings, it has been claimed, despite the PM insisting he has full confidence in his chief of staff.
Sources have revealed that Mr McSweeney and other top members of the Downing Street communications team agreed the strategy to brief certain media outlets about the PM’s plan to fight on in the event of a leadership challenge.
However the No. 10 chief of staff is insisting he did not specifically brief against Health Secretary Wes Streeting, as the PM’s top advisor fights for his career.
This morning the Cabinet appeared in open revolt, as Ed Miliband publicly said Sir Keir should “of course” sack anyone found to be involved in the briefing war.
Labour Party chairman Anna Turley has now said an investigation is underway into the briefings.
This morning Sir Keir said: “First let me be clear that any briefing against ministers is completely unacceptable. That is not a new position for me, it is a position I have adopted ever since I became Prime Minister. I have made it very clear to my team.
“I have been talking to my team today. I have been assured that no briefing against ministers was done from No 10 but I have made it clear that I find it absolutely unacceptable.”
He added: “I have been assured it didn’t come from Downing Street but I have been equally clear that whether it is this case or any other, I intend to deal with it.”
FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES:
Migration minister asked about potential future PM Shabana Mahmood
Amid open questions about Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party, migration minister Mike Tapp has heaped praise on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Asked about speculation that the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood could be a future Labour leader, Mr Tapp said: “Shabana is the fantastic Home Secretary, and she’s already delivering, and you’ll see that going further.”
Top Tory says ‘it’s over’ for McSweeney
Tory Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake has declared ‘it is over’ for Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.
The conclusion came after claims in the Telegraph that Mr McSweeney did sanction briefings earlier in the week that sparked the enormous Labour civil war.
Mr Hollinrake said: “Must be game over for Morgan McSweeney. Unless, Keir Starmer instructed him to do it…..”
Labour grandee says Starmer needs to replace Morgan McSweeney
Labour grandee David Blunkett, the stalwart cabinet minister from the Tony Blair era, has said Keir Starmer needs a new chief of staff to replace the embattled Morgan McSweeney.
Lord Blunkett told the Newsagents podcast that Sir Keir should tell his right hand man, “you’ve got great skills. You helped enormously with me in building a winning team before the election. Now’s the time for me to find you another role that you’re good at, and I will bring someone in with the overall experience that we need to be the Chief of Staff.”
Top pollster issued damning statement about Keir Starmer
A leading pollster has said that Keir Starmer’s personal ratings are not recoverable.
The Prime Minister is now the least popular premier in recorded history, and even less popular than Jeremy Corbyn.
Scarlet Maguire warned that Sir Keir “has no floor” below which his popularity will stop falling.
She explained: “Many unpopular politicians [like Corbyn or Boris] have people who will not desert them because they believe them to be authentic to some things and some principles. And that is what Keir Starmer is completely lacking.
“His brand is completely irrecoverable… the public have completely made up their mind on Keir Starmer and the number one problem they have with him is a sense he is untrustworthy, goes back on what he says and breaks his promises.”
Jeremy Hunt says Streeting ‘has played a blinder’
Former Health Secretary and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has told the BBC that Wes Streeting has “played a blinder” during this week’s Labour leadership coup row.
Mr Hunt says: “He was challenged by the people briefing in Number 10, and he came out fighting, and he’s enhanced his reputation.
“But what this says about, you know, Number 10 and the way that operation is going, I think what it really says is that they know they’re in deep trouble. But what is not clear is whether they’re going to learn the lessons from that.
“And the real reason for the dysfunction in Number 10 and the unpopularity of this Labour government in such a short period of time is that it doesn’t appear to know what the hell it wants to do.”
Labour in 4th place yet again in new poll
Labour is down to fourth place in yet another poll, in a further sign of the crisis enveloping Keir Starmer’s premiership.
The party that won a landslide majority less than two years ago stands at just 15% in Find Out Now’s latest survey.
Reform are way out in the lead, on 33%, with the Greens in second for yet another poll.
The Tories are slightly ahead of Labour on 16%.
Starmer retains full confidence in McSweeney
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he “of course” retains full confidence in his under-pressure chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and that he has been “assured that no briefing against ministers was done from No 10”.
Analysis: The real reason Brits want Starmer to resign
Sir Keir Starmer would not be fighting for his political life if millions of Britons were were not worried the cost of living, threats to their jobs and the prospect of new tax raids by Rachel Reeves.
Reports of rows at the heart of Government are not the reason at least half the country thinks the Prime Minister should quit.
Voters would shrug their shoulders at stories of giant egos colliding in Whitehall if this did not fuel fears ministers are distracted and out of their depth as unemployment climbs and growth withers.
Police and Crime Commissioners to be axed
Police and Crime Commissioners will be abolished at the end of their current terms in office in 2028, the Government has announced.
Home Office minister Sarah Jones said the role, introduced in November 2012, had not worked, with the public having little awareness of who their PCC is, and is showing little sign in improving confidence in police.
Their powers will be transferred to regional mayors or policing and crime boards made up of local council leaders.
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Jones said: “The model was created to increase accountability and build a greater connection between policing and local communities, by having a single public official directly elected by the public responsible for holding their chief constable to account, setting the local police budget and agreeing strategic priorities for their force through their local police and crime plan.
“However, whilst the role of PCCs has evolved over time … the model has failed to live up to expectations. It has not delivered what it was set up to achieve.”
She added: “The reality is that the PCC model has weakened local police accountability and has had perverse impacts on the recruitment of chief constables.
“They have failed to inspire confidence in local people, in stark contrast to the mayoral model, which has clearly been ultimately more successful.”
Wes Streeting dismisses questions over No 10 briefing war as ‘silly Westminster soap opera stuff’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting would not be drawn into discussing the future of No 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and brushed off repeated questions about a briefing war within the Government as “silly Westminster soap opera stuff”.
Mr Streeting was repeatedly questioned by broadcasters about the anonymous attacks on him earlier this week as he visited Paddington Community Diagnostic Centre in Liverpool, but he insisted it was “all yesterday’s news”.
Asked about an apology he received from the Prime Minister, the Health Secretary said: “One of the great things about being here in the North West today is you can leave all that silly Westminster soap opera stuff behind.”
The economy is ‘flatling’ but Labour government is ‘in civil war’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says the government is too busy fighting itself to run the country.
“The British economy is flatlining, yet the government is embroiled in civil war, too busy infighting to fix the mess it’s made of the public finances,” she says.
“We need to cut spending, cut taxes and back business.”
Borrowing costs little changed after GDP blow
The cost of government borrowing held firm as official figures showed weaker than expected growth in the third quarter.
The yield on 10-year UK gilts – a benchmark for the cost of servicing the national debt – held at around 4.4% even as economists said the decline in GDP had “sealed” the case for the Bank of England to cut interest rates next month.
Neil blasts ‘desperate shambles’
Veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil took aim at Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street operation in a post on X.
PM going ‘nowhere’ – ex-Labour comms chief
Former Labour communication chief Tom Baldwin told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he believes the Prime Minister is going “nowhere”, as Sir Keir Starmer faces a leadership row following briefings against Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Asked whether he thinks the Prime Minister is in control, Mr Baldwin said: “I think this is the time where he really can get a grip on this.”
The former journalist, known to be close to the Prime Minister, added: “Keir Starmer is going nowhere out of Downing Street.”
Mr Baldwin’s comments come as Sir Keir faces pressure to overhaul his “toxic” Downing Street operation, after the Health Secretary criticised briefings from No 10 suggesting that he was plotting a coup.
Speaking to Sky News yesterday, Mr Streeting said the “juvenile” briefing against him showed problems with the culture in Sir Keir’s administration.
Starmer needs to ‘get a grip’ of No10, Alastair Campbell warns
Alastair Campbell, former director of communications at Number 10, said Downing Street needs to “get a grip” as Sir Keir Starmer faces a leadership row following briefings against Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Campbell said he believed the Labour Party’s strategy “isn’t going very well”.
He said: “The worst thing about recent days is it’s made a relatively new government look like the last lot.
“There are bigger, worse enemies – like Nigel Farage.”
“Get a grip,” he added.
UK economy ‘on life support’
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the UK economy “is on life support” after official figures showed growth slowed ahead of the Budget.
She said: “We have low growth, rising unemployment and a deepening cost of living crisis. Workers and communities cannot continue to pay the price.
“Our economy cannot grow without serious investment in UK PLC. We need the vision of well paid jobs to create growth. The chancellor must grasp the nettle and back Britain.”
Miliband rules out fresh leadership bid
Ed Miliband said he would not consider a bid to return as Labour Party leader.
The Energy Secretary told BBC Breakfast: “I had the best inoculation technique against wanting to be leader of the Labour Party because I was leader of the Labour Party between 2010 and 2015.
“I’ve got the T-shirt, that chapter’s closed.”
Ed Miliband (Image: Getty)
PM will ‘get rid’ of person behind briefing – Miliband
The Prime Minister will “get rid” of the person behind a briefing that unleashed a leadership row if he finds them, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has said.
“I’ve talked to Keir before about this kind of briefing that happens. As he always says, if he finds the person, he’ll get rid of them, and I absolutely believe he would do that,” he told Sky News.
Asked if he thought Sir Keir Starmer would sack the person, he said, “Sure, yeah.”
He also noted that briefing is a “longstanding aspect” of politics and pointed back to there being “lots and lots of briefing” under Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
“Look, I think the briefing has been bad, no question. But my message to the Labour Party, though, is quite simple today, which is, we need to focus on the country, not ourselves,” he told Sky News.
He added: “Turbulence is part of the gig, is part of the DNA of being in government.”
Tories say PM and Chancellor are ‘in office but not in power’
Responding to new figures showing the UK economy slowed, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Today’s ONS figures show the economy shrank in the latest month, under a Prime Minister and Chancellor who are in office but not in power.
“Months after the Prime Minister stripped the Chancellor of responsibility for the Budget, Keir Starmer has now lost control of his own Downing Street operation – with his team openly at war with his Cabinet.
“If the Prime Minister does not have the backbone to control his team, he has no hope of reducing spending. Only the Conservatives have a leader with a backbone and a plan to deliver £47 billion of savings – allowing us to cut tax and cut the deficit under our golden economic rule.”
Mel Stride speaking at a Tory rally (Image: Getty)
UK economic growth slows ahead of Budget
UK economic growth slowed to 0.1% for the past three months in a fresh blow to the Chancellor ahead of the autumn Budget.
Official figures also showed that the economy declined by 0.1% in September after the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover hit activity in the manufacturing sector.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said UK gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.1% between July and September, following a 0.3% increase between April and June.
Starmer faces calls to sack chief of staff
Cabinet ministers have demanded that Sir Keir Starmer sack his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.
The Prime Minister is under pressure to overhaul his Downing Street operation after an apparent bid to warn off potential leadership contenders backfired.
One Cabinet minister told The Times: “If the PM didn’t approve it, he needs to get rid of Morgan.”
Another added: “There isn’t an obvious solution that doesn’t involve firing him.”
Keir Starmer at PMQs (Image: Parliament )
