Top minister Shabana Mahmood blasts Labour briefing warfare – ‘deeply embarrassing’
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood tore into “tittle tattle” about challenges to Keir Starmer’s leadership after civil war erupted at the top of the Government this week
The savage briefing war at the top of Government was “unedifying and deeply embarrassing for everyone concerned”, the Home Secretary has said.
Shabana Mahmood dismissed “tittle tattle” about challenges to Keir Starmer’s leadership after civil war erupted this week.
Efforts to shore up the PM’s position spectacularly backfired after suggestions that Health Secretary Wes Streeting was plotting a coup caused Labour tensions to boil over.
The furious PM apologised to Mr Streeting and said briefing against his ministers unacceptable. But speculation continues to bubble over his future and the ambitions of top ministers.
Today, Ms Mahmood said the PM should not be considering standing aside – and pointed out that he won a landslide election victory less than 18 months ago.
Asked on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips if the Prime Minister needed to think again about his leadership, she said: “No. Keir Starmer is our Prime Minister. We won an election just under a year-and-a-half or so ago, when people thought that we would not win an election for maybe a generation or more.
“I have no time for these things that people say or brief off the record, or any of this, frankly, Westminster bubble tittle-tattle.”
Ms Mahmood added: “If people have things to say, they should have the courage of their convictions and say so publicly, and that is not what is happening.
“I think what happened at the beginning of this week was – with all of those anonymous briefings – unedifying and deeply embarrassing for everyone concerned.”
The Home Secretary has been floated as a potential successor to Mr Starmer, along with Mr Streeting and former Deputy PM Angela Rayner.
She dismissed questions on her own ambitions, telling the BBC: “I don’t engage in future hypotheticals and chitter chatter.”
It comes after Ms Rayner branded the briefings “arrogant” to the Mirror in her first interview since she was forced to quit as Deputy Prime Minister.
Asked if she would return to frontline politics amid speculation about her future, Ms Rayner told us she had “not gone away”.
She said: “I’m really humbled and I always have been, the people of Ashton-under-Lyne have always supported me.
“The 10 years that I’ve been in government I’ve had quite a number of front bench positions, and I’ve always brought it back to the people that I was there to represent and having this opportunity now, to be more in the constituency and to champion those views is something that I’m humbled to do and I’m looking forward to the challenge.
“I’ve got a lot of interests like child poverty, the fair pay agreement, and making sure the Employment Rights Bill is carried out in full.”
