Sir Keir Starmer has said he “never authorised attacks” on cabinet members after his Number 10 team briefed that Wes Streeting was plotting a coup.
The prime minister backed his health secretary, who spent the morning batting off overnight claims – which he said came from Number 10 – that he was planning to oust Sir Keir after the budget and take his place.
But the Labour leader failed to say he had full confidence in his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, when asked by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.
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He told Prime Minister’s Questions: “Morgan McSweeney, my team and I are absolutely focused on delivering for the country.
“Let me be clear. I’ve never authorised attacks on cabinet members. I appointed them to that post because they’re the best people to carry out that job.”
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Ms Badenoch said she did not hear Sir Keir back Mr McSweeney.
The prime minister’s spokesperson later said he had full confidence in his chief of staff – and claimed the briefing against Mr Streeting came from outside Number 10, in what appears to be a blame game.
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Sir Keir did publicly back Mr Streeting, telling PMQs he has helped deliver five million extra NHS appointments and is “doing a very good job”.
“Any attack on any member of my cabinet is completely unacceptable,” Sir Keir added.
“This is a united team and we are delivering.”
His last line received jeers from the opposition benches, with Speaker Lindsay Hoyle having to intervene, telling MPs if they “want to audition for the pantomime, I suggest you go to the Old Vic”.
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Ms Badenoch accused Sir Keir of having “lost control of Number 10” and said two weeks from the 26 November budget, “the government has descended into civil war”.
She said Labour MPs were “chuntering” from the benches facing her and said they were the “feral MPs that Number 10 has been talking about”.
“Unbelievably, the prime minister’s advisers have been reduced to briefing that MPs can’t get rid of him and – I’m not making this up – they can’t get rid of him because it would destabilise international markets,” Ms Badenoch added.
“Why does the prime minister think that there would be a market meltdown if the health secretary took over?”
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Hours earlier, at 7am, Mr Streeting told Mornings with Ridge and Frost he would not try to oust Sir Keir and accused allies of the prime minister in Number 10 of briefing against him.
“I do think that going out and calling your Labour MPs ‘feral’ is not very helpful,” he said.
“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.”
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He added: “Whoever’s been briefing this has been watching too much Celebrity Traitors.
“This is just about the worst attack on a faithful I’ve seen since Joe Marler was kicked out and banished in the final.”
