Wes Streeting took a dig at Keir Starmer’s frequent U-turns on Tuesday, saying Labour had to start ‘getting it right first time’.
The Health Secretary, who is widely tipped as a potential successor to Sir Keir, also appeared to criticise the PM for complaining that it is too hard to get things done in Government.
Sir Keir’s premiership has been littered with U-turns on everything from winter fuel payments to grooming gangs and, most recently, business rate hikes on pubs. In only 18 months in power, the Government has now clocked up more than a dozen U-turns.
Former Tory Cabinet minister Esther McVey on Tuesday said the Prime Minister’s promises were ‘Keir today, gone tomorrow’.
Ministers are already lining up a further reverse on jury trials, calls for a social media ban for under-16s and business rates relief for the wider hospitality sector.
In a speech to the Institute for Government think-tank, Mr Streeting also said that sweeping reforms were needed for Labour to regain public confidence, warning that: ‘People are paying more in tax, but getting a poorer service in return.’
The Health Secretary defended the right of Government to change its mind in response to public feedback, saying it was ‘far better to do the right thing rather than to spare one’s political blushes’.
But he added: ‘In the NHS, we have an initiative called GIRFT – get it right first time. That should be our resolution for 2026 – let’s try and get it right first time.’
Sir Keir has struggled to deliver on his promise of change despite a landslide victory in 2024.
Last month he voiced frustration at institutional barriers, telling MPs: ‘My experience now as Prime Minister is of frustration that every time I go to pull a lever there are a bunch of regulations, consultations, arm’s-length bodies that mean that the action from pulling the lever to delivery is longer than I think it ought to be.’
His former aide Paul Ovenden went further, warning that a ‘stakeholder state’ of campaign groups, regulators and trade bodies had ‘captured’ parts of Government.
But Whitehall troubleshooter Louise Casey told the conference that ministers need to ‘get a grip’ instead of giving in to ‘hopelessness’.
Mr Streeting warned that complaining about the difficulty of governing risked ‘rolling the pitch’ for Right-wing rivals who want to take a ‘chainsaw’ to the state.
He added: ‘This excuses culture does the centre-Left no favours. If we tell the public we can’t make anything work, why on Earth would they vote to keep us in charge?’
Meanwhile, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride told the conference a future Tory government would make it easier to sack failing civil servants.
He said dismissals for poor performance were ‘almost non-existent’, adding: ‘Either our civil servants are all vastly better at their jobs than people in the private sector, or a lot more civil servants should be losing their jobs.’
