Oh dear. With the right in civil war, Keir Starmer might have thought his week was ending on a high, after yet another U-turn – this time over digital ID. But his loose-lipped cabinet have done it again, telling the Times that they believe Kemi Badenoch’s dramatic sacking of Robert Jenrick ought to serve as a model for our poor Prime Minister. Perhaps Sir Keir lacks Kemi’s confidence eh?
In a series of briefings tonight, various ministers sound off about Wes Streeting, the omnipresent Health Secretary who is never backward about coming forward. One member of the cabinet told the Times that ‘What he [Streeting] is doing is so obvious, he is repeatedly breaching collective responsibility, he is attacking Number 10, he is undermining all of us. The PLP don’t like what he is doing, they would back him [the prime minister] if he acted.’ Ooft.
Another cabinet minister said that the behaviour of Streeting’s and his allies is ‘wild’. ‘Everyone knows he has MPs from the 2024 intake telling anyone who’ll listen that it’s time to get rid of Keir and make Wes PM instead. It’s wild behaviour. If he doesn’t bring it to a head, he’ll have to be brought to heel’. A third cabinet minister added:
Wes is exactly the same as he was when he was 18… if he doesn’t become Labour prime minister he will tell himself his entire life has been a failure. Everything he’s doing now is in pursuit of that aim. Has he been pushing the boundary of what’s acceptable? Yes.
A spokesman for Streeting claimed that: ‘Wes is delivering real change in the NHS, and is out there making the case for Keir and for Labour.’ When even the cabinet’s most gifted communicator is struggling, perhaps it’s the message, not the messenger…
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