Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced intense scrutiny during Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions as he attempted to distance himself from anonymous attacks made by Downing Street officials against Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
PMQ Clash Over Cabinet Unity
In an awkward session at the despatch box, Starmer declared that briefings against Cabinet ministers were "unacceptable" while defending his "united team" working at Number 10. The Prime Minister specifically backed Streeting, who was conducting ministerial work in Manchester, praising him for doing a "great job" in reforming the NHS.
"Any attack on any member of my cabinet is completely unacceptable," Starmer stated firmly. "[Streeting]'s doing a great job, as is the whole of my Cabinet."
When pressed by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch about whether he had confidence in his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, Starmer responded: "Morgan McSweeney, my team and I are absolutely focused on delivering for this country."
Denials and Counter-Accusations
The heated PMQs session came hours after Streeting was forced to deny mounting a leadership campaign against Starmer following a difficult Autumn Budget. On Tuesday night, multiple reports emerged indicating that Starmer would fight back against any challenge to his premiership.
In what appeared to be a coordinated briefing campaign to Westminster journalists, Downing Street officials accused Streeting and other Cabinet ministers of gathering support among backbenchers to prepare for a potential leadership contest.
Streeting hit back forcefully in several broadcast interviews, calling for the Prime Minister to sack officials responsible for what he described as "self-defeating" attacks. "It's a 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," Streeting told Sky News.
The Health Secretary added: "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."
Market Stability Concerns
Behind the political drama, concerns emerged about the potential impact on financial markets. Number 10 strategists reportedly fear that advisers and MPs underestimate the importance of political stability to investors and public finances.
Starmer's team told reporters that investors would lose confidence in the Labour government if a leadership contest occurred, noting that markets particularly trusted Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Starmer himself.
Bloomberg separately reported that economist and former Treasury minister Kitty Ussher had recently given a presentation to government officials about gilt markets, arguing that yields remained elevated due to backbench influence on policies including welfare reforms.
However, bond markets appeared largely indifferent to the Westminster gossip during early Wednesday trading, with gilt yields increasing only marginally by approximately three to four basis points. This followed a previous day's decline driven by dovish unemployment data that raised prospects of an interest rate cut later this year.
Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch capitalized on the internal Labour tensions, declaring that the government had "descended into civil war" and describing a "toxic culture" at Number 10. Her comments prompted roars of laughter from opposition MPs as Starmer insisted on his government's unity.
