Wes Streeting accuses No10 insiders of trying to 'kneecap' him as Keir Starmer hit by 'coup' frenzy

Evening Standard

Health Secretary Wes Streeting accused No10 insiders of trying to “kneecap” him as Labour went into a frenzy over talk of a coup to topple Sir Keir Starmer.The Cabinet minister hit out after allies of the Prime Minister briefed that he would fight any attempt to oust him.Supporters of Mr Streeting and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood were said to be on “manoeuvres” ahead of a possible leadership challenge, according to reports.Some of the new intake of Labour MPs were described as “feral” by a Cabinet minister who backs Sir Keir staying in No10.As the coup rumours swirled, Mr Streeting was asked on BBC Breakfast: “Are you a Faithful or are you a Traitor?”

Transcript

00:00Have you had any conversations with anyone about getting rid of Keir Starmer?

00:04No, and I'll tell you what I think this does show,

00:07is that when Lucy Powell stood to be deputy leader of the Labour Party

00:10and said there needed to be a culture change in how we lead

00:14and how the party is managed, I think she has been vindicated.

00:19Is it rotten? Do you think that's a rotten culture?

00:20No, I wouldn't go with that.

00:21I'm not going to give whoever's behind this any more kind of oxygen and credit.

00:27I do think that, you know, going out and calling your Labour MPs feral is not very helpful.

00:34I do think that trying to kneecap one of your own team when they are out,

00:39not just making the case for the government,

00:41but actually delivering the change that we promised,

00:43I think that is also self-defeating and self-destructive behaviour.

00:46I also think whoever did this doesn't speak for the Prime Minister.

00:49I speak for the Prime Minister.

00:51That's why I was asked to come on this morning to talk about the reform agenda in the NHS.

00:55That's why I was with the Prime Minister on Monday evening

00:57with a small group of colleagues looking seriously at how we meet our ambitious goal

01:02of halving violence against women and girls in this country.

01:05And those are the things the Prime Minister's focused on.

01:07I think he will be horrified reading the front pages this morning.

01:11I don't think this is how he conducts himself.

01:14And I think people should follow the example set by their boss.

01:17Third, a second to the Jох Sofi Womers

01:29on Monday evening.

01:32And we'll give us an example set of posts for three or four їers.

01:37So, again, if you had a natural Sixties on Monday,

01:42what happened next week?

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