Starmer under pressure to sack his chief of staff
The Prime Minister has faced calls to sack No 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney after Downing Street was accused of briefing against Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
The Guardian reports that Labour MPs have demanded McSweeney faces consequences for the recent briefing operation, although Starmer has reportedly said he would not remove McSweeney from his position.
On Wednesday 12 November, briefings from No 10 to the media indicated that Starmer was ready to fight off challenges to his leadership from Streeting and others prominent Labour MPs.
Aides warned that any attempt to oust the prime minister over tanking poll ratings would be reckless and could destabilise both markets and international relationships.
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 12 November, Starmer faced a barrage of questions from Kemi Badenoch and others over the irregular briefing operation against Streeting and other MPs.
When asked if he still had complete confidence in McSweeney, Starmer said his government was united and that his team was focused on delivering for the country.
However, Starmer also condemned the briefing from No 10 against Streeting and other ministers, instead applauding Streeting’s performance as Health Secretary and his effectiveness at reducing NHS waiting lists.
“Any attack on any member of my cabinet is completely unacceptable,” Starmer said.
“I have never authorised attacks on cabinet members. I appointed them to their posts because they are the best people to carry out their jobs.”
Streeting faced multiple media interviews on Wednesday morning, and called out the toxic culture at No 10, condemning the briefing against him and adding that Starmer would be unhappy with this operation.
“That’s the other thing I know about this prime minister: nothing grinds his gears more than this kind of like Westminster bubble stuff and the briefings to newspapers,” Streeting told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
“You don’t see him angry often, but at cabinet meetings, the only time I’ve seen him really angry is when there have been briefings against colleagues.”
