LIVE: Cabinet ministers challenged to speak out against Starmer

by James Tapsfield, UK Political Editor

Keir Starmer had a ‘blink and you miss it’ showdown with Wes Streeting today as the PM suffered more body blows – and the King is dragged into Labour’s meltdown.

A grim-faced Health Secretary walked out of Downing Street barely 15 minutes after he entered through the famous black door.

The brevity of the encounter will spark speculation that there was no meeting of minds over Mr Streeting’s coup attempt in the wake of disastrous local elections.

The SNP will force a vote on Sir Keir Starmer’s future in an amendment to the King’s Speech, the party has announced.

New SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan said the ‘leadership circus can’t go on any longer’ as he seeks to force Labour MPs to take a position on the Prime Minister’s job if he does not resign himself.

He said:

This farce has to end now, so parliament can focus on the issues that really matter. It’s clear the only way that can happen is for Keir Starmer to go.

If the Labour cabinet ministers don’t have the decency to do the right thing – then Parliament must.

The King’s Speech – the second under this Labour government – is expected to unveil over 35 bills.

Policies on immigration, green energy and reforms to special educational needs and disabilities (Send) schooling will be included in the speech, which will lay out the Government’s legislative priorities for the next Parliamentary session.

It will be read by the King in the House of Lords before MPs and peers and include new laws to make it easier to take action against state-backed groups such as the proscription of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It follows attacks on the Jewish community in London in recent months.

On immigration, legislation is expected on restricting the use of Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, an element that guarantees the right to respect for private and family life, which some migrants who do not qualify for a visa or asylum rely on.

New laws could be mentioned that would deny appeal rights to more people and establish an independent appeal body to hear claims currently considered by judges.

Leasehold reforms are expected to be in the speech as the Government said it wants to ‘give people more control over how they live in their own homes’.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has left No10 in the last 10 minutes.

She did not say anything and just turned left to walk down Downing Street as journalists shouted questions.

Cabinet office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has told broadcasters that MPs had not united behind a candidate to trigger a leadership contest.

He told BBC Breakfast:

There is no contest for the leadership of the Labour Party. There’s a very clear way to do that under our rules of 81 people nominating an alternative candidate. That hasn’t happened.

The contest hasn’t been triggered. We are moving on. I’m not saying yesterday wasn’t turbulent. It evidently was, but we are moving, getting on with delivery.

by Nick Candy

This is not democracy. This is farce. The constant roundabout of Prime Ministers, backstabbers, stalking horses and pretenders to the throne has made a mockery of British politics.

After a 48-hour battle to save his job, Keir Starmer is clinging on – but you can be sure he won’t last for long.

The British Government has begun to look chaotic, changing leaders with alarming frequency. If Starmer is replaced before July, we will have cycled through seven prime ministers in a decade: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, and Keir Starmer. The last four have been office in the last four years alone.

Four heads of government, and just one General Election. How can that possibly represent the will of the people? How can anyone expect economic prosperity and social stability when there is constant uncertainty at the top?

Trade unions affiliated with Labour say ‘it is clear’ Sir Keir Starmer will not lead the party into the next election and that a leadership election must take place.

In a joint statement, the unions, including Unite, Unison and the GMB, said they recognised that progress has been made by the Government, such as aspects of the Employment Rights Act and the increase in the minimum wage.

But they said the results of last week’s elections were ‘devastating’.

The statement said:

Labour is not doing enough to deliver the change that working people voted for at the general election. Our focus is on the fundamental change of direction on economic policy and political strategy that unions have been clear is needed, and not on the personalities and unfolding political drama in Westminster.

It’s clear that the Prime Minister will not lead Labour into the next election, and at some stage a plan will have to be put in place for the election of a new Leader.

This is a point where the future of the Party we founded will be debated and determined and we are working closely as unions to shape a shared vision on policy, political strategy and economic policy that will re-orient Labour back to working people, so Labour do what it was elected to do – govern in the interests of workers.

Wes Streeting has left Number 10 after a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer.

The Health Secretary was inside for less than 20 minutes.

Mr Streeting did not respond to questions from journalists as he walked back down Downing Street.

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by Dan Hodges

‘The Labour Party has literally gone insane.’ These words – from a senior backbencher – accurately described the day Britain’s governing party stared into the abyss, took a deep breath, then hurled itself straight in.

I had the privilege of a front-row seat to the fall of Tony Blair. I chronicled the Brexit wars; Boris Johnson being deposed by a slice of birthday cake; and Liz Truss’s own quick-fire descent into oblivion.

But nothing compares to the complete madness of the last 24 hours, and the way Keir Starmer contrived to defy his party – and reality – and send them hurtling towards political and electoral destruction.

The mayhem began, ironically enough, with the Prime Minister finally accepting his fate. According to one of Starmer’s allies, as Monday’s trickle of MPs calling for his resignation turned into a flood, he finally acknowledged that his position had become untenable.

UK long-term borrowing costs have eased back after reaching a 28-year high yesterday as Sir Keir Starmer continues to defy calls to stand down.

The yield on 30-year UK Government bonds – also known as gilts – was down by four basis points to 5.74 per cent in early trading on Wednesday.

Yields had jumped as much as 13 basis points to around 5.8 per cent on Tuesday amid the uncertainty over the Prime Minister’s future.

The yield on 10-year gilts was also down by four basis points to 5.066 per cent on Wednesday.

Gilt yields move counter to the value of the bonds, meaning their prices fall when yields rise.

Meanwhile, the pound was stabilising after the previous day’s falls. The currency was more or less flat against the US dollar, at 1.353, and up about 0.1 per cent against the euro, at 1.155.

by James Tapsfield, UK Political Editor

Mr Streeting has arrived in Downing Street for a showdown meeting with the PM over the coup attempt in the wake of disastrous local elections.

He opted to stride in through the famous black door instead of one of the more discreet entrances.

The PM’s band of allies have dismissed the encounter as a ‘quick coffee’, jibing that Mr Streeting does not have the numbers or the ‘nerve’ to challenge.

But the peril remains – with claims unions are poised to say Sir Keir cannot fight the next election.

Ominously, the next batch of Mandelson documents is due to be released as early as next week.

Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner are both circling as the question of who will succeed Sir Keir dominates MPs’ discussions.

High drama at Westminster yesterday saw four Labour ministers resign, saying they no longer had confidence in the premier.

The number of Labour MPs calling for him to go rose to 90, and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was forced to deny she is on the brink of quitting after telling the PM to set out a timetable for his departure.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has said he doesn’t think talks between Wes Streeting and Sir Keir Starmer will be ‘awkward’.

Mr Thomas-Symonds insisted Sir Keir’s Cabinet is ‘united and determined’, and said the Prime Minister’s door is ‘very much open’ to hearing any leadership concerns.

‘The Prime Minister has said he’ll speak to any members of the Cabinet about any concerns they may have. His door is very much open in that regard,’ he told Times Radio.

He said Sir Keir’s mood on Tuesday evening was one of ‘real steely determination’ and commitment to delivering the mandate he got in the 2024 election.

As Wes Streeting is due to meet Sir Keir on Wednesday morning, Mr Thomas-Symonds insisted any Cabinet minister can go for a ‘quick coffee’ with the Prime Minister and said ‘I don’t think that will be awkward at all’.