Sack Streeting in No 10 reset, allies tell Starmer

Wes Streeting should be sacked as part of the Downing Street reset, allies of Sir Keir Starmer have said.

The Prime Minister is being told by his supporters to assert his authority and dispose of the “distracting” Health Secretary to get his premiership back on track.

Sir Keir will return to Parliament after recess on Monday. He is seeking to stabilise his premiership following a bruising start to the year.

He is conducting a wholesale overhaul of No 10 after the Lord Mandelson scandal pushed his Government to the brink, with the clear-out already costing him two of his most senior aides.

Sources close to four Cabinet ministers have now turned the spotlight on Mr Streeting, telling The Telegraph he is becoming increasingly unpopular with Government colleagues after months of bitter briefing wars with No 10.

They said the attacks on Downing Street were interfering with Labour’s agenda and could not be allowed to continue, with one warning: “The situation is clearly unsustainable.”

Mr Streeting, a prominent figure on the Labour Right, is widely seen as a potential challenger to Sir Keir and has been accused on multiple occasions of plotting a coup against the Prime Minister.

He was suspected of conspiring with Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, after the latter called for Sir Keir to resign earlier this month. The Prime Minister’s supporters previously accused him of being on leadership manoeuvres in the run-up to the Budget.

Mr Streeting has always denied any coup attempt and accused No 10 insiders of briefing against him, souring relations with Downing Street.

He has also irritated his Cabinet colleagues by repeatedly criticising the Government in public.

‘Wes has no friends left’

One source close to a Cabinet minister told The Telegraph: “Wes has no friends left in Cabinet. He’ll have to go at some point – the situation is clearly unsustainable.”

Another insider said: “He should be sacked. He’s distracting from delivering on the manifesto.”

Last month, Mr Streeting raised eyebrows by attacking Sir Keir’s failure to get policy right “the first time” after a string of embarrassing about-turns.

Just weeks before that, he claimed voters were turning away from Labour because of the party’s “technocratic” approach to governing.

He has also suggested Sir Keir must go further in undoing Brexit and told figures on the soft Left to stop blaming their failures on the Civil Service.

A source close to a third Cabinet minister said: “Wes is making himself unpopular in Cabinet by carping on about No 10. He needs to stop messing about and get behind Keir.”

Another warned: “It’s pretty obvious that the vibes around him are not great.”

A No 10 source said last night that the briefings were “utter nonsense” and “not the view of the PM or anyone in No 10”.

“Journalists can say this is from ‘friends or supporters of Starmer’. It is undoubtedly not — these stories only create division and distract from the achievements of the Government.

“Wes is doing a great job as Health Secretary, cutting waiting lists to their lowest level in three years. While other parties turn inwards, the Labour Government is getting on with delivering national renewal and Wes is a key player in the team.”

The swipes at No 10 have fuelled suspicions that Mr Streeting is positioning himself for a leadership tilt as the Prime Minister braces for a torrid set of local elections in May.

‘Nothing to hide’

This week’s by-election in Gorton and Denton is also seen as a moment of high peril for Sir Keir, with new polling suggesting Labour is on track to finish third behind the Greens and Reform UK.

Speculation over a possible coup reached new heights when Mr Sarwar made his call for Sir Keir’s resignation over the Lord Mandelson scandal.

The Prime Minister was facing his biggest crisis to date after fresh revelations about the disgraced peer’s relationship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein raised questions about Sir Keir’s decision to appoint him as US ambassador.

Mr Streeting was accused of teaming up with the Scottish Labour leader after The Telegraph revealed the pair had spoken two days before Mr Sarwar’s shock intervention.

The Health Secretary denied any plot, but took the unusual step of publishing his own communications with Lord Mandelson in an apparent bid to neutralise them if a leadership contest should arise.

His allies said the messages showed he had “nothing to hide” about his friendship with the former Labour peer, who has announced his resignation from the House of Lords and is currently under investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Streeting insisted last month that he was a “faithful” – linking his loyalty to the hit BBC show The Traitors. However, he has never denied that he has future leadership ambitions.

Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has also been urged by backbench Labour MPs to launch a leadership challenge.

But some have said Ms Rayner may feel unable to stand while she awaits the outcome of an HMRC inquiry into her failure to pay a £40,000 stamp duty bill on her flat.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]