Politics latest: Streeting launches Labour leadership bid with call to rejoin EU

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

Wes Streeting said at the conference: “If we’re not building homes for the next generation, then we’re letting the next generation down.”

He added that when it comes to the natural environment, “the species I’m most worried about right now are kids living in moldy bed and breakfasts.”

Wes Streeting said leaving the EU was a “catastrophic mistake” and called for a new “special relationship” with the bloc.

He said: “Politics today must deal with the pressing issues that concern voters – affordability, small boats, the NHS – but we also need to address the big issues that define our age. We need a bigger politics. Let’s embrace diversity of thought and competition for ideas as a strength.”

“We cannot find radical solutions if we ignore ideas in favor of merely problem-solving, as if government were the same thing as management consulting, or if we believe that one person or one political tradition has a monopoly on ideas and wisdom.

“Fundamentally, there are three big important choices we need to make as a country that can help us regain our sense of progress.

“Firstly, leaving the European Union was a huge mistake. In 2026, British people increasingly realize that in a dangerous world, we must act together to rebuild both our economy and our trade and improve our defenses against the common threats of Russian aggression and America. Our greatest economic opportunity is on our doorstep. We need a new Special Relationship with the EU because Britain’s future is in Europe and one day back in the European Union.”

Wes Streeting has confirmed he will survive if a Labor Party leadership contest is launched to replace Sir Keir Starmer.

“We need a proper contest with the best candidates in the field and I will be standing,” he told reporters at a conference in central London.

Mr Streeting, who quit as health secretary this week, also insisted he had enough support among MPs to launch a contest, but suggested his challenge to rival Andy Burnham would be “lacking legitimacy” unless he was given the chance to return to Parliament.

He told the Progress think tank conference: “First of all I have support in the parliamentary party but I also had a choice this week.

“We could have gone straight into a leadership contest, knowing that not all the candidates would be on the field, that Andy Burnham was about to stand in the by-election, and that if we had come forward without giving Andy the chance to stand up, the new leader, whether it be me or someone else, would lack legitimacy and therefore further increase instability and uncertainty.

“This may have been self-interested behavior for candidates currently in Parliament, but it was not in the interest of the party and was not in the national interest.”

Wes Streeting added: “We have also seen Jews being murdered and attacked in their own shuls and on our streets, and children in my constituency trying to hide their school uniforms and stars of David because they are afraid of being abused or attacked just for being Jewish. ‘Globalize the Intifada with actions, not just words.’

“Nigel Farage and Reform are trying to capitalize on this by exploiting division and hatred. When it comes to antisemitism on the left, the Greens choose to look the other way because their party is now full of the same things we export.”

“This is our fight. This has always been Labour’s fight. Not just to confront the forces of racism, discrimination and hatred, but to build the path to a better, brighter future for everyone.”

At a far-right march in London today, Streeting said the Labor Party must confront racism, not explain it away.

He said: “Today Tommy Robinson and his followers are marching through the streets of our capital. “The last time he did this, ministers were sent out by Number 10 with a media script to make a statement rather than condemn the march.

“What we have experienced in our country in recent months is racism of a kind we have not seen on our streets since the 1970s and 80s. Our country’s flags are flown from lampposts and overpasses, not as a symbol of national pride but as a symbol of division, a message that these flags belong to people who look like me, not our Mayor of London.”

The former health minister continued: “As a result, we came into government underprepared in many areas and lacking clear vision and direction.

“Questions left unanswered in opposition could not be ignored in office, leading to an early disaster such as the winter fuel outage.

“We have brought this culture into government with a heavy-handed approach where backbenchers are berated for interesting private member bills that are not government policy, such as banning smartphones in schools.

“That’s why we need a proper contest where all candidates can do their best. It should be a battle of ideas so that whoever wins comes out stronger.”

Labor risks becoming “Nigel Farage’s servant” unless the party changes course, Wes Streeting has said.

Speaking in London this afternoon, he said: “Labour has been in existence for 126 years and in power for only 35. Our time in government is precious. We must not waste it.”

“Change starts with a debate. You can’t make progress without a debate. That’s why this week I called for a battle of ideas, not personalities.

“For over a decade we haven’t had a debate about who and what we are for in the Labor Party. Corbyn’s leadership has been marred by factionalism.

“The moral urgency of antisemitism in our party has left little room for intellectual renewal or policy debate on the centre-left.

“Then we had a dishonest leadership race, followed by extreme caution in the opposition. Interesting policy ideas couldn’t be put forward because we were too afraid of what the Conservatives might say, so we said nothing.

Rather than challenging ideas and kicking the tires, debate was seen as division and closure.”