Keir Starmer also told MPs on the Liaison Committee he would ‘get to the bottom’ of leaks ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s make-or-break Budget last month
Keir Starmer laughs off question about Labour Party leadership
Keir Starmer has joked about relentless Labour leadership speculation at Westminster – telling MPs it “seems to be pretty rife”.
The Prime Minister’s comments came after the latest report the Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, was plotting a return to Parliament. There have been constant whispers among Labour MPs that Mr Starmer could face a challenge to his leadership if the May elections are a disaster for the party.
Pressed by Tory MP Alberto Costa at the Liaison Committee whether Labour leadership speculation is “purely a party political matter”, Mr Starmer laughed and replied: “No, I’m not sure I can. It seems to be pretty rife”
Fresh speculation emerged over the weekend that the Mayor of Greater Manchester is seeking a Westminster comeback. According to the Sunday Times, his allies have identified a “nailed-on” seat where polling shows he could take on Reform. But Mr Burnham tweeted on Sunday: “Quite a lot of rubbish in the papers today. Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place!”
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Mr Starmer’s remarks also follow an extraordinary briefing war at the top of the government ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget last month. At the time there were sensational claims Wes Streeting was plotting against the Prime Minister – denied by the Health Secretary at the time.
The PM said today his special advisers in Downing Street had assured him that the “unacceptable” briefing against the Cabinet minister had not come from No10. “I didn’t just take everything at face value. I looked at other bits of evidence to assure myself about what I was then saying publicly to the media,” he said.
Mr Starmer also told MPs he would “get to the bottom” of leaks ahead of the Budget, and said he had no reason to believe they came from Downing Street. Chancellor Rachel Reeves had previously told MPs she was “absolutely categorical” that a Financial Times story which revealed she had dropped plans for an income tax rise ahead of the Budget was “not an authorised briefing” but a leak.
Mr Starmer said: “I’ve no reason to think there was a leak from No 10.” Asked if he would go as far as removing someone from their post based on the outcome of the leak inquiry going on, he said: “Obviously, I’ll wait for the inquiry, but I mean the inquiry will go wherever the evidence takes it.
“There’s nothing to inhibit where they will go, and I’ll take appropriate action if there’s a finding.” He added: “I’ll get to the bottom of these leaks. They are in any organisation, they’re intolerable. I took the same action when I was head of the Crown Prosecution Service. There is a leak inquiry. It can go wherever the evidence will take it, and if it comes to a conclusion, I’ll act on it.”