Key points from Wes Streeting speech as he launches leadership bid with pledge to rejoin EU
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 on Saturday.
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-serving behavior for candidates currently in parliament, but it was neither in the party’s interest nor in the national interest.”
Mr Streeting made his first speech since his resignation to warn that Labor risks becoming “Nigel Farage’s handmaidens and the disintegration of the UK” unless it changes course.
The former health secretary said: “Voters did more than send Labor a message last week; they issued a warning: unless we change course we risk becoming Nigel Farage’s handmaidens and the UK breaking up.”
He also touched on Labour’s direction over the last few years, saying: “Corbyn’s leadership has been marred by factionalism. The moral emergency 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.
“Instead of challenging ideas and kicking the tires, it was seen as debate, division and closure. As a result, we came into government underprepared in many areas and lacking clarity of vision and direction.”
Referring to the brewing competition to replace Sir Keir Starmer, he said: “So we need a proper competition where all the candidates can do their best.”
In another major move, Mr Streeting called for Britain to rejoin the European Union.
“We need a bigger policy,” he told the Progress conference in central London.
“Let’s accept diversity of thought and competition of ideas as a strength. We will not find radical solutions as if it were the same as state management consultancy, or if we believe that one person or one political tradition has a monopoly on ideas and wisdom, ignoring ideas that are only in favor of solving problems.”
Mr Streeting said leaving the European Union was a “disastrous mistake”.
He added: “In 2026, British people increasingly see that we must act together to rebuild both our economy and trade in a dangerous world and to improve our defenses against the shared threats of Russian aggression and America First.
“The greatest economic opportunity we have ever had is on our doorstep. We need a new and special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future is in Europe and, one day, in the European Union again.”
