KEIR STARMER is facing calls from cabinet ministers to sack Wes Streeting over allegations of disloyalty, as divisions deepen within the cabinet.
Several ministers have expressed frustration with Streeting’s public comments and have privately accused him of prioritising leadership ambitions over party unity.
One cabinet minister told The Times that Starmer should learn from Kemi Badenoch, who this week sacked Robert Jenrick. They said: “What he’s doing is so obvious, he is repeatedly breaching collective responsibility, he is attacking No 10, he is undermining all of us. The [parliamentary Labour Party] don’t like what he is doing, they would back [the prime minister] if he acted.”
Another cabinet minister said Streeting’s allies were behaving in a “wild” manner, claiming that MPs from the 2024 intake were openly calling for Streeting to replace Starmer. A third cabinet minister told The Times Streeting’s actions were driven by his ambition to become prime minister and added: “Has he been pushing the boundary of what’s acceptable? Yes.”
A spokesman for Streeting said Starmer’s allies were “briefing against Wes yet again” and pointed to falls in NHS waiting lists and faster ambulance response times. A No 10 source told The Times that Streeting was doing a “great job as health secretary” and was a “key player in the team”.
Streeting has recently criticised the direction of the government, including comments in November about a “toxic culture” in No 10 and warnings last month about the government becoming the “maintenance department for the country”.
During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, several ministers voiced support for Starmer.
A No 10 source told The Times: “Wes is doing a great job as health secretary, delivering an 86,000 cut in waiting lists this week.”
