Starmer told to sack chief aide Morgan McSweeney over ‘unacceptable’ leaks about Wes Streeting

Earlier today, Sir Keir Starmer condemned "completely unacceptable" briefings against Health Secretary Wes Streeting which appeared in multiple newspapers on Wednesday.

Asked whether the PM was ready to sack those responsible, 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.”

But despite the strong response from Starmer, Cabinet ministers have told the Guardian that chief of staff Morgan McSweeney should not survive the row which has sparked civil war within Labour.

It is understood that Streeting and Starmer have now spoken and that the Prime Minister apologised over the row to his frontbencher.

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One minister who is reportedly a former ally of McSweeney, 48, told the Guardian: “Morgan will have to go. But it won’t save Keir."

A Cabinet minister added: "If it was an orchestrated campaign to shore up the PM, then it’s had the opposite effect; it’s spectacularly backfired. I don’t see how Morgan can survive when Keir has ended up in a weaker position than before.”

Another source said: “Consensus is forming in cabinet he’ll have to go. I am devastated about it.

“I keep thinking there must be a bigger strategy that I’m not understanding. But I think it’s just that they just have to have an enemy. It’s become their Achilles' heel.”

Mr Streeting has categorically denied that he was plotting to oust the Prime Minister and called for those in No 10 briefing against him to face the sack.

At Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir said "any attack on any member of my Cabinet is completely unacceptable".

He said Mr Streeting was doing a "great job" as he highlighted his record on turning around the NHS.

Asked by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch if he had confidence in chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir did not answer directly.

He replied: "Morgan McSweeney, my team and I are absolutely focused on delivering for the country. Let me be clear, of course, I've never authorised attacks on cabinet members, I appointed them to their post because they're the best people to carry out their jobs."

Leadership rumours have been swirling around Westminster with Labour at historic poll lows. Friends of Sir Keir fear he could face a challenge if the Budget - which is expected to include massive tax hikes - lands badly.

The assault from No10 was seemingly timed to coincide with the Health Secretary touring broadcast studios for a big NHS announcement.

But it spooked the markets, with yields on 10-year gilts - the main way the government borrows - rising.

Today Mr Streeting played down reports he is planning to oust the Prime Minister labelling coup talk as "ridiculous"

Speaking on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, he joked: "I think this is daft. I think someone in Downing Street is been watching too much celebrity traitors."

"This is the most appalling attack on a faithful I have seen since Joe Marlar was banned in the final."

Asked directly if he wanted to become Prime Minister, he added: "Not if this is how people behave in your own house. I'm talking to you from the LBC safe house which is just across the road from parliament. This is ridiculous. The Prime Minister is not fighting for his job."

Jo White, Labour MP for Bassetlaw and Chair of the Red Wall Labour backbench group, told LBC News: “There's always constant briefing, private briefing to journalists and people. I understand there are people running around thinking they'd like to be the next leader or next Prime Minister, and I think that's very, very inappropriate right now.

"And I think number 10 have hit out trying to silence it, and I think they've made the whole problem a whole lot worse than what it is.

"I don't think Wes is part of that dialogue discussion, from what I know of him, but the fact he's come out defending himself so valiantly this morning just shows it's not something he wants to be even part of.”

Senior Labour figures raised fears that up to 50 frontbenchers are willing to stand down in order to force Sir Keir out should the Budget on November 26 land poorly.

Alongside Mr Streeting, former deputy PM Angela Rayner and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood are regarded by some as "on manoeuvres".

The bar for ousting a Labour PM is very high. At least 81 rebels would need to unite around a single candidate, and even then there would need to be a contest at the next party conference.

Labour affiliates, including the trade unions, would be able to vote in the ballot alongside individual members

However, in reality Sir Keir would struggle to survive losing the confidence of the Cabinet.

Starmer's closest aides have said that any attempt to remove the Prime Minister would be "reckless" and "dangerous" - reportedly telling the Guardian that the move would destabilise the markets, international relationships and Labour itself.

They also have suggested that Sir Keir would stay to fight any leadership election, rather than stepping aside for rivals

At PMQ's Ms Badenoch said Sir Keir "has lost control of his Government, he's lost the confidence of his party, and lost the trust of the British people", Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said.

"Since they came in, it's been disaster after disaster. The Deputy Prime Minister, the new Deputy Prime Minister, is clueless about how many illegal migrant sex offenders he's let loose. The Culture Secretary breaking the rules to give her donor a top job. Taxes set to rise even further, unemployment at levels not seen since lockdown.

"And in the middle of it, a weak Prime Minister at war with his own Cabinet.

"It's not just him, it is all of them. There is no replacement, it is all of them. Two weeks before the Budget, isn't it the case that this Prime Minister has lost control of his Government, he's lost the confidence of his party, and lost the trust of the British people?"

The Prime Minister replied: "The stupid mistakes were made over 14 long years. They broke the economy and now they think they can lecture us, and now they've got this unserious idea that they can find £47 billion of cuts without saying where they're going to come from."