Keir Starmer is in full-on meltdown mode today as his allies launched a ‘Stop Streeting’ campaign just a fortnight before the crucial Budget.
The PM’s supporters made clear he will fight any leadership challenge in an extraordinary pre-emptive strike on plotters.
But the Health Secretary immediately hit back by accusing No10 of ‘self-destruction’ and demanding a change in ‘culture’.
He dismissed ‘daft’ claims he is planning to challenge Sir Keir, and suggested those conducting the Downing Street briefings had been watching too much Traitors on TV.
Friends of Sir Keir are said to be concerned about the possibility he could be dethroned if the Budget – expected to include massive tax hikes – lands badly.
Among those touted as replacements are Mr Streeting and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who is seen as a rising star in the Labour Party.
The assault from No10 was seemingly timed to coincide with Mr Streeting touring broadcast studios for a big NHS announcement.
Asked whether he was planning a leadership challenge, the Health Secretary told Sky News: ‘No, and I think whoever’s been briefing this has been watching too much Celebrity Traitors, and this is just about the worst attack on a faithful I’ve seen since Joe Marler was kicked out and banished in the final.
‘It’s totally self defeating briefing, not least because it’s not true and I don’t understand how anyone thinks it’s helpful to the Prime Minister either.’
Asked if he would rule out demanding Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation after the Budget, he said: ‘Yes, and nor did I shoot JFK.
‘I don’t know where Lord Lucan is, had nothing to do with Shergar, and I do think that the US did manage to do the moon landings. I don’t think they were fake.’
Mr Streeting pointedly referenced Lucy Powell, the ‘anti-Keir’ candidate who recently won the deputy leadership contest.
‘What I think this does show is that when Lucy Powell stood to be deputy leader of the Labour Party and said there needed to be a culture change in how we lead and how the party is managed, I think she has been vindicated,’ he said.
He added: ‘I do think that going out and calling your Labour MPs feral is not very helpful.
‘I do think that trying to kneecap one of your own team when they are out, not just making the case for the Government, but actually delivering the change that we promised, I think that is also self-defeating and self-destructive behaviour.
‘I also think whoever did this doesn’t speak for the Prime Minister. I speak for the Prime Minister.’
He added he thought Sir Keir Starmer would be ‘horrified’ reading reports of briefing against Cabinet members.
One minister told the BBC that the Prime Minister ‘will fight this’.
They added: ‘He is one of only two people alive who have won a general election for Labour. It’d be madness to run against him after 17 months.’
Another minister who believes Sir Keir should stay until the next election says the PM is at mercy of ‘feral’ Labour MPs from the 2024 intake.
Sir Keir is aware of the growing threat to his position and is ‘already fighting the leadership election’ by reaching out to Labour backbenchers, according to The Times.
The Prime Minister has reportedly told ministers that any attempted coup would destabilise Britain’s standing on the financial markets and its relationship with foreign governments.
Other names said to be in contention are Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, and backbenchers including the former transport secretary Louise Haigh.
Another Labour source said: ‘The list of reasons for people to move after the Budget are growing by the day.
‘If Wes is brave and moves he may well be rewarded by being prime minister by Christmas.’
But a spokesman for Mr Streeting said the claims were ‘categorically untrue’.
The spokesman added: ‘Wes’s focus has entirely been on cutting waiting lists for the first time in 15 years, recruiting 2,500 more GPs, and rebuilding the NHS that saved his life.’
Critics have warned that Downing Street was ‘in full bunker mode’ which ‘won’t help the Government out of the hole we’re in’.
A source said No 10 was ‘turning on their most loyal Cabinet members for absolutely no reason’.
‘Unfortunately there is a pattern of Keir’s team briefing against his own people… now it’s Wes’s turn,’ the source added.
