'Unacceptable' And 'Untenable': Labour MPs Hit Out At Downing Street's Week Of Chaotic Infighting

The government’s infighting has sparked furious backlash from within Labour this week, including from the party’s deputy leader.

In an attempt to shore up the prime minister’s position, Keir Starmer’s allies briefed several outlets that Wes Streeting was plotting to oust him.

But the health secretary instantly rebutted the claims, hitting out at the “toxic culture” within No.10.

The PM eventually rang Streeting to apologise and insisted that he had not authorised any such attacks against one of his own ministers.

He also claimed he was investigating who had briefed the press in such a way.

But Starmer’s remarks have done little to dampen speculation that Starmer could be on his way out.

Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell told The Times that the events of this week had been “totally unacceptable”.

Powell, who was sacked as leader of the House of Commons in September, was elected to be deputy Labour leader by party members only last month, stepping into Angela Rayner’s former role.

But it means she is still outside government – David Lammy became the deputy prime minister – which gives her more freedom to criticise the government.

She attacked the briefings, saying: “There are horrible personal briefings that are totally unacceptable.

“We do operate in quite a difficult environment for politicians now [with] social media, so then to have your own side doing that to you as well... we’ll just end up with poorer politics and poorer politicians.

“We do need a cultural kind of reset in how we approach some of these things,

“I’ve called it out and I’ll continue to call it out. ”

She added: “People need to be held to account for it.”

Powell also warned that the government is not representing enough of Labour values.

Yet, the MP insisted she “absolutely” believed Starmer will be prime minister at the time of the next election, expected in 2029.

Her predecessor, current backbencher Angela Rayner, also hit out at the “tittle tattle” which has been circling Westminster this week.

She told the Mirror: “It almost looks arrogant when you’ve got real challenges that real people are facing and that’s what we really need to be focusing on.”

Meanwhile, Clive Lewis became the first Labour MP to call for Starmer to step down.

Speaking to Channel 4 on Friday, the Norwich South MP said Andy Burnham – the mayor of Greater Manchester – should get a seat in the Commons “and become the next prime minister”.

Lewis said the situation was “not tenable” right now, adding: “We now need to do what the Prime Minister once said, which is put country before party and, frankly, party before personal ambition.

“I just don’t see how this can stagger on without any resolution on the horizon.

“I think the Labour Party, the Labour grandees, the men in grey suits, need to now really seriously think, how do we get Andy Burnham back into this parliamentary Labour Party and let him step up and become the next prime minister?

“That’s my personal view. I know it won’t be shared by everyone, but I don’t see many other options.”

Labour MP Barry Gardiner said on Wednesday that it was common knowledge party members were considering how Starmer could be replaced.

He told GB News: “Everybody knows there are groups of MPs worried about the polls asking ‘does the prime minister need to go? Who’s going to challenge him? When’s it going to happen?’”

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood also told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday that what had happened was “horribly embarrassing and deeply mortifying”. 

But she insisted that Starmer’s leadership is not in question, and refused to say if she would ever run for the top job, saying she would not “indulge in hypotheticals”.