UK Politics

Badenoch takes Labour leadership jibe at Starmer and Streeting in heated PMQsKeir Starmer has said he “never authorised attacks on cabinet members” as he continues to back Wes Streeting amid mounting speculation the prime minister could face a leadership coup.As a civil war erupts at the top of the Labour Party, the health secretary has categorically denied that he is plotting to oust Sir Keir and called for those in Downing Street briefing against him to face the sack.In a flurry of anonymous late-night briefings, allies of the prime minister came out fighting on his behalf amid fears his job could be under threat after the Budget in two weeks’ time. Among those touted as replacements are Mr Streeting as well as home secretary Shabana Mahmood.Speaking during a fiery PMQs, Sir Keir said that “any attack on any member of my Cabinet is completely unacceptable”, and insisted that the health secretary is doing a “great job” as he highlighted his record on turning around the NHS.However, the prime minister did not take the chance to say he has full confidence in his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, when the question was put to him by Kemi Badenoch.The Conservative leader also accused Sir Keir of having “lost control of No 10” following the briefings.PM’s press secretary leaves open possibility Starmer could sack peopleThe Prime Minister’s press secretary left open the possibility that Sir Keir Starmer could sack people within his No 10 operation following a briefing war at the top of Government.Asked if the PM was prepared to sack people found to have briefed against Cabinet ministers, his press secretary said: “I would point you to what he has said about this previously, which is any attacks on Cabinet ministers are completely unacceptable and will always be dealt with.”Briefings against Health Secretary Wes Streeting in particular were “a series of quotes attributed to outside Downing Street”, she suggested, when asked if a leak inquiry was under way.The Prime Minister has full confidence in both the Health Secretary and his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, No 10 also indicated.Asked if briefings that Sir Keir’s insists he is ready to fight against leadership challenges made him look weak, the press secretary replied that “the Prime Minister’s leadership speaks for itself”, and pointed to to the three trade deals he had struck, as well as efforts to restore stability to the economy, and reform public services.Tara Cobham12 November 2025 14:45Streeting dismisses idea McSweeney is responsible for toxic cultureRebecca Thomas, Health Correspondent, reports live from the conference: When asked by journalists at the NHS Providers conference “Do you think Morgan McSweeney is responsible for the toxic culture in number 10? Do you think he should be fired for weekly going?The health secretary responded: “I am not going to add to the toxic culture by contributing to the toxic culture and going after individuals.“I don’t think that would be a constructive or positive things to do and one thing I would say for Morgan McSweeney is there wouldn’t be a Labour government without him.”Rebecca Thomas, Health Correspondent12 November 2025 14:37From Streeting to Miliband: Who could challenge Keir Starmer for the leadership?Sir Keir was being given until the crucial elections next May – and potential calamities in Scotland, Wales and London – before MPs would consider a move against him, but if the Budget in a fortnight’s time lands badly then his demise could come sooner.The Independent’s political editor David Maddox looks at who could replace him:Tara Cobham12 November 2025 14:30Streeting bats away claims he’s on ‘manoeuvres’Rebecca Thomas, Health Correspondent, reports live from the conference:During his speech at the NHS Providers conference in Manchester Mr Streeting suggested he was not “on manoeuvres”.Quizzed further after his speech the health secretary was asked will you be fighting alongside the prime minister, following stories of an alleged leadership coup.Mr Streeting said: “The bizarre thing about some juvenile briefing overnight its some people in No.10 said the prime minister is fighting for his job, I don’t think that is true…I think what he is trying to do is fighting to turn this country around.”Quizzed about a 2024 interview when he expressed his desire to be PM one day.He said: “I’ve got a hard job already, so I’m quite enjoying doing this”Adding “I’m not going to say anything today that adds to the silly season that is going down.”Rebecca Thomas, Health Correspondent12 November 2025 14:23Streeting dismisses ideas that Starmer fighting for his jobWes Streeting has dismissed questions that Keir Starmer is fighting for his job in No 10.“The bizarre thing about some juvenile briefing overnight is that it’s some people in No 10 that have said the prime minister is fighting for his job.“I don’t think that’s a helpful or constructive thing to say, I also don’t think it’s true. “What I think he is doing is fighting to turn the country around from the enormous mess we’ve inherited on so many fronts.”( More

Wes Streeting has denied he is plotting to oust Sir Keir Starmer after Downing Street intervened in claims that a potential leadership coup is in the works. Dismissing the speculation, the health secretary said the claims were “self-defeating and self-destructive”, comparing them to conspiracy theories.He told Sky News on Wednesday: “I think whoever’s been briefing this has been watching too much Celebrity Traitors.“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,” he added, calling for the originators of the briefings to be sacked.No 10 has singled out the health secretary to warn off other potential leadership challenges from senior Labour figures More

The sole Reform UK member of the Welsh Parliament, Laura Anne Jones, is facing a two-week suspension from the Senedd’s debating chamber following a recommendation from its standards committee. The proposed ban stems from a racial slur she used in a WhatsApp message exchange.Ms Jones, who defected from the Conservatives earlier this year, made the offensive remark about Chinese people in a group during a discussion about the Chinese-owned app TikTok in August 2023. She wrote: “No ***** spies for me.”While Ms Jones has previously issued an apology for the comment, the Senedd standards committee concluded that her actions “fell far below the standards expected” of a member of the Senedd. Members of the Senedd are expected to formally approve the 14-day suspension next week.Jones defected from the Conservatives earlier this year More

Wes Streeting has called on Sir Keir Starmer to sack those responsible for “self-defeating” rumours about a Labour leadership challenge in an extraordinary attack on Downing Street.The health secretary demanded change at the top of No 10 following reports that unnamed aides had accused him of plotting to oust Sir Keir.Mr Streeting denied the reports, and he turned the tables on his unnamed No 10 critics, accusing them of “picking on him” and delivering an incendiary public denunciation of Sir Keir’s Downing Street.Mr Streeting said it showed that deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell, an earlier reported victim of hostile Downing Street briefings, had been right to criticise the “culture” in No 10.He categorically denied that he was plotting to oust Sir Keir, comparing suggestions he would do so to conspiracy theories.Streeting, pictured in London on Wednesday morning, laughed off suggestions that he is behind a plot to oust Starmer as leader More

One of Britain’s richest men, who donated £1m to Brexit campaigns, says he’s considering moving permanently to Australia after delivering a damning assessment of a UK “in chaos”.Lord Edmiston was ranked 187th on the Sunday Times Rich list this year with an estimated wealth of £855m, after making his fortune through his IM Group empire, which started by importing cars and later expanded into property and finance.In 2011 he was made a Conservative life peer before he retired from the House of Lords four years later to focus on his evangelical charity, Christian Vision, where his donations make him one of the UK’s biggest philanthropic donors. The devout Christian has also donated £1m to pro-Brexit campaigns, including £850,000 to Vote Leave through his company before the 2016 EU referendum. But with his son, Andrew, taking a bigger hand in running the West Midlands-based business, Lord Edmiston told The Independent he is spending more time out of the UK, having semi-retired to Portugal in 2016 and built a property in Australia.Now, he has revealed that he and his wife Lady Edmiston are considering going a step further by applying for permanent residency in Australia. He put it down to family reasons and a warmer climate, but also fired off criticism of the NHS and the country’s tax system. Lord Edmiston’s company IM Group donated £850,000 to Vote Leave, which had Boris Johnson as one of its figureheads More

A panicked Downing Street briefing about Keir Starmer’s plans to fight off any attempts to oust him has fuelled speculation about who could replace him as leader. The clock has been ticking for some time now on a prime minister who has seen terrible polling ratings get progressively worse in his 16 months in power.Sir Keir was being given until the crucial elections next May – and potential calamities in Scotland, Wales and London – before MPs would consider a move against him, but if the Budget in a fortnight’s time lands badly then his demise could come sooner.Sir Keir Starmer’s senior political aides are said to have warned against attempts to oust him (Jack Taylor/PA) More

A senior member of the British government on Wednesday denied he’s plotting to oust Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a sign of deep anxiety in the Labour Party over its dire poll ratings less than 18 months after a landslide election victory.Health Secretary Wes Streeting said talk of a leadership challenge by Labour officials and lawmakers is “self-defeating and self-destructive.” He spoke after aides to the prime minister preemptively told British media outlets that Starmer would fight any leadership challenge.“It’s totally self-defeating briefing, not least because it’s not true,” he told Sky News. He said “whoever’s been briefing this has been watching too much ‘Celebrity Traitors’,” referring to the hit reality TV show that pits faithful members of a group against conniving enemies within.The 42-year-old health secretary is one of the government’s most effective communicators and is widely tipped as a future party leader.A challenge this early in a government’s five-year term would be highly unusual. But Labour lawmakers are gloomy about opinion polls that consistently put Labour well behind the hard-right Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage – though ahead of the main opposition Conservative Party, which faces crises of its own.They are nervous about the annual budget statement on Nov. 26, which is expected to include income tax hikes, breaking an election promise.Since being elected in July 2024, Starmer’s government has struggled to deliver on its pledges to get the economy growing, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living. Inflation remains stubbornly high, unemployment has risen and the economic outlook subdued. Latest figures released Tuesday showed that the jobless rate has gone up to 5% in the three months to September from 4.8% in the previous three months — the highest since 2016 once the COVID-19 pandemic years were factored out.Under Labour Party rules, a lawmaker can mount a leadership challenge if they have the support of 20% of their colleagues, a threshold that currently stands at 81 members of Parliament.Britain’s parliamentary political system allows a governing party to change prime minister without the need for an early election, though unelected prime ministers face pressure to demonstrate their legitimacy by going to voters.The U.K. had three Conservative prime ministers – Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – between the last two elections in December 2019 and July 2024. More

A group of wealthy Britons are calling for increased taxes on the rich, claiming that such measures could “lift kids out of poverty” and significantly contribute to rebuilding public services. The campaign group, Patriotic Millionaires, believes Chancellor Rachel Reeves could generate up to £36 billion annually through reforms to capital gains tax and the introduction of a new wealth tax. This appeal comes ahead of Ms Reeves’s upcoming Budget announcement in Westminster later this month.Group member Phil White said: “It’s time for the wealthiest – people like us – to pay a fairer share, so we can help lift these kids out of poverty and begin rebuilding our public services and communities right across the UK.”Speaking as Patriotic Millionaires began a tour to take its message to key cities across the UK, Mr White added: “We all want to live in a society where everyone has a decent shot at life – but at the moment that just isn’t the case.“The gap between the super-rich and everyone else grows by the day.“In Scotland, around one in five children live in poverty, while the country’s five richest families own a combined £19.3 billion – more wealth than a quarter of the population put together.”Patriotic Millionaires, believes Chancellor Rachel Reeves could generate up to £36 billion annually through reforms to capital gains tax and the introduction of a new wealth tax More