Starmer backs Streeting and refutes ‘completely unacceptable’ No 10 leaks over ‘coup attempt’: Latest

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir Starmer had “lost control of his Government, lost the trust of his party and lost the trust of the British people”.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Badenoch said: “I wouldn’t make the stupid mistake of abolishing employment tax and killing jobs.

“Since their arrival, disaster after disaster has occurred. The Deputy Prime Minister, the new Deputy Prime Minister, is unaware of how many illegal immigrant sex offenders he has released. The Minister of Culture is breaking the rules to give his donor a good job. Taxes will rise further, unemployment is at levels not seen since the lockdown.

“And in the middle of all this, a weak Prime Minister at war with his own Cabinet.

“Not just him, all of them. He’s not being replaced, all of them. Two weeks before the Budget, hasn’t this Prime Minister lost control of his Government, lost the trust of his party, lost the trust of the British people?”

The Prime Minister replied: “Stupid mistakes have been made for 14 years. They have disrupted the economy and now they think they can teach us a lesson and now they have the unserious idea that they can come up with £47bn of cuts without telling us where they will come from.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting addressed the leadership speculation while attending the NHS conference in Manchester.

He said he wanted to start by “pre-empting this leadership speculation.”

“I know there are concerns about how long the man in the top job stays,” he said. “Let me reassure everyone that I am doing everything in my power to persuade Jim Mackey to stay here as long as possible.”

He mentioned NHS England’s Chief Executive Sir Jim Mackey, not Sir Keir Starmer, who is said to be challenging his premiership.

We’ll bring you updates as Wes Streeting talks about NHS reform at a conference in Manchester.

Stay tuned for the best lines.

No 10 indicated on Wednesday afternoon that it still had confidence in the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.

Asked about the issue during PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer refused to publicly say he had confidence in his senior aide and said his team, including Mr McSweeney, was “absolutely focused on delivering for the country”.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary later said that the Prime Minister trusted his deputy and drew attention to his remarks in the parliament.

It appears that someone in Downing Street misjudged Keir Starmer and his pre-emptive warnings against conspirators seeking to undermine his leadership. Senior officials within the Labor Party apparently feared the Budget would be unpopular enough to trigger a challenge to the Prime Minister within a fortnight.

Select journalists were told that Starmer would refuse to go quietly, but would instead stand and fight any challenge and that markets would react badly to the instability.

But the briefing war got out of control. Some were aimed squarely at the ambitious and inevitably quirky health minister Wes Streeting.

Downing Street will not have to comment on suggestions that a toxic culture lies at the heart of the Government.

Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about sexism in No 10, the Prime Minister’s press secretary insisted there were “wonderful women at the top of government”.

Asked if this meant Health Secretary Wes Streeting was wrong when he talked about the need for “culture” change at No 10, he said: “No. I’m just saying we have great women. I’m not commenting directly on his comments.”

Asked whether the Prime Minister was concerned about discontent among Labor supporters about his record, his press secretary told reporters: “You’ve heard the Prime Minister say that he always wants to go further and faster in serving the British people. That’s his sole focus. That’s the sole focus of his government. That’s what Labor MPs are focused on.”

He added that Sir Keir had been “communicating regularly” with the Parliamentary Labor Party and would continue to do so in the weeks leading up to the Budget and beyond.

Jo White, chair of the Red Wall group of Labor MPs, blamed rumors of a leadership coup on “a bunch of people who think they’re a lot smarter than the rest of us, spending their time selectively briefing journalists and causing a stir”.

Another Labor MP told the PA news agency: “Anyone who thinks this is clever wants to be shot” and “There’s clearly a cultural problem.”

David Maddox, political editor of The Independent, reports:

The prime minister was never going to have an easy PMQ after he revealed allegations that his own team was facing a coup. This made this one of the easiest PMQ outings Kemi Badenoch will ever have, and she failed to deliver.

The Conservative Party leader acted on the heels of a promise this morning from health secretary Wes Streeting that those behind allegations of leading the coup should be sacked as he complained about the “toxic culture” in Downing Street.

Backed into a corner, prime minister pressed on chief of staff M’s role

McSweeney was held directly responsible for last night’s debacle and it was notable that Sir Keir did not overdo his praise for his defense for the first time.

This means the outcome of this briefing could mean that the man who put Starmer in Downing Street to survive could be sacrificed to save him.

This was unthinkable 24 hours ago and may still not happen, but the focus is very much on these two men and whether there is room for both of them in Downing Street.

Dismissing the speculation, the health minister said the claims were “self-defeating and self-destructive” and compared them to conspiracy theories.

He told Sky News on Wednesday: “I think whoever is reporting on this is watching too much Famous Traitors.”