Ed Miliband says Keir Starmer will sack No 10 briefer who sparked management row if discovered
The cabinet minister says the PM would not have backed attacks on Wes Streeting but will ‘get rid’ of the culprit who suggested Health Secretary was looking to oust him
Sir Keir Starmer will “sack” the person behind a briefing that sparked a leadership row, according to senior cabinet members.
Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband said he had no doubt the Prime Minister will “get rid” of the culprit who suggested Health Secretary Wes Streeting was looking to oust him. On Wednesday Streeting was forced to deny he shot JFK as he made light of accusations he is plotting against the PM after the November budget.
Yesterday Ed Miliband said he was certain Keir Starmer would sack whoever had briefed against Mr Streeting, who he later apologised to.
Mr Miliband said: “I’ve talked to Keir before about this kind of briefing that happens. As he always says, if he finds the person, he’ll get rid of them, and I absolutely believe he would do that.”
When asked if he thought Sir Keir Starmer would sack the person, he said, “Sure, yeah.”
He also said briefing was a “longstanding aspect” of politics and pointed back to there being “lots and lots of briefing” under Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Mr Miliband added: “Look, I think the briefing has been bad, no question. But my message to the Labour Party, though, is quite simple today, which is, we need to focus on the country, not ourselves. Turbulence is part of the gig, is part of the DNA of being in government.”
The briefing kicked off a chaotic 48 hours after No 10 launched an operation to shore up the prime minister against an anticipated leadership challenge.
On Thursday former No 10 spin doctor Alastair Campbell said Downing Street needs to “get a grip”.
The former director of communications at Number 10 said he believed the Labour Party’s strategy “isn’t going very well”.
He said: “The worst thing about recent days is it’s made a relatively new government look like the last lot. There are bigger, worse enemies – like Nigel Farage.”
“Get a grip,” he added.
