Starmer stands by under fire chief of staff as PM insists anti-Streeting briefings didn't come from No10
It comes as calls from cabinet ministers to sack McSweeney intensify, with some claiming Downing Street is "out of touch with reality."
Sir Keir Starmer has said he has been "assured that no briefing against ministers was done from No 10" following briefings accusing Wes Streeting of plotting a coup to unseat him.
Listen to this article
The Prime Minister said today that “any briefing against ministers is completely unacceptable" and that he retains full confidence in his under-pressure chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.
It comes as calls from cabinet ministers to sack McSweeney intensify, with some claiming Downing Street is "out of touch with reality."
Sir Keir said: "I have been assured that no briefing against ministers was done from No 10, but I have made it clear that I find it absolutely unacceptable.”
Read more: Starmer 'investigating' briefings against Wes Streeting amid calls to sack chief aide
Read more: BBC 'prepared to apologise' for doctoring Trump's speech
He added: “I have been assured it didn’t come from Downing Street, but I have been equally clear that whether it is this case or any other, I intend to deal with it.”
Asked if he would sack those responsible, Sir Keir replied: “I will absolutely deal with anybody responsible for briefing against ministers, Cabinet ministers or any other ministers. I have always said that is the standard that I expect, and that is the standard that I will enforce.”
Mr Streeting has dismissed the Labour briefing war, calling it “silly Westminster soap opera stuff”.
The Health Secretary declined to revisit “yesterday’s news” after a tumultuous day in which he criticised the “toxic” culture in Downing Street following anonymous briefings accusing him of plotting to unseat Sir Keir Starmer.
Mr Streeting said “no idea. Don’t care” whether the Prime Minister was investigating the source of the attacks on him.
Cabinet colleague Ed Miliband earlier said Sir Keir would “get rid” of anyone behind the briefing campaign if he found them, after it emerged the Labour leader would look into who was responsible.
Asked about the saga during a visit to the Paddington Community Diagnostic Centre in Liverpool on Thursday, Mr Streeting said: “I have no intention of revisiting yesterday’s events. That’s yesterday’s news and it’s Westminster bubble stuff that doesn’t mean anything to anyone.”
He added: “I don’t think voters give two monkeys about what on earth is going on in the sort of Westminster village soap opera. What they do care about is, if they’re on an NHS waiting list, are we getting them down?”
Sir Keir is understood to have gathered his senior Downing Street team for a meeting on Thursday morning, where he reiterated that briefings against Cabinet ministers were unacceptable.
At the meeting, held on a call between the Prime Minister and some of his staff in North Wales, and others in No 10, Sir Keir was “assured that no No 10 staff briefed against ministers”, according to his official spokesman.
Asked about an apology he received from Sir Keir, Mr Streeting told broadcasters: “One of the great things about being here in the North West today is you can leave all that silly Westminster soap opera stuff behind.”
He would not be drawn into discussing the future of No 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who has been blamed by some within Labour for the fallout from the apparent ploy to warn off potential leadership contenders.
Asked about Sir Keir’s powerful aide directly, Mr Streeting replied: “I’m sure that Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer and everyone else is absolutely delighted with the news today that NHS waiting lists are falling.”
The Health Secretary went on to say the NHS was “on the road to recovery” as he highlighted the fall in the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England, the recruitment of 2,500 more GPs in his first year in the post, and faster ambulance response times.
On Wednesday, Mr Streeting denied the claims he could launch a leadership challenge, called for anyone behind the “juvenile” briefing to be sacked and said they pointed to a “toxic culture” in Sir Keir’s administration.
Speaking on Thursday morning, Energy Secretary Mr Miliband told Sky News: “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.”
Asked if he thought the Prime Minister would sack the person, he said: “Sure, yeah.”
He also noted that briefing is a “longstanding aspect” of politics and pointed back to there being “lots and lots of briefing” under Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Sir Keir was forced to condemn “completely unacceptable” attacks on Cabinet ministers, as he told the Commons on Wednesday: “Morgan McSweeney, my team and I are absolutely focused on delivering for the country.”
He later moved to smooth relations with Mr Streeting directly in a brief chat the same evening, their first since the hostilities erupted.
Sir Keir apologised to him for the briefing campaign, without going into details, according to a source.
The two did not discuss Mr McSweeney and agreed to speak again soon.
Sir Keir is “looking into” the source of the attacks, Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said.
She told ITV: “He is going to investigate and we’ll see what happens as a consequence of that.”
The unrest at the top of the party comes as Labour’s poll ratings have plummeted since Sir Keir delivered a landslide general election victory in July 2024.
It precedes Rachel Reeves’s Budget in a fortnight, which could see the party rip up its manifesto promise not to increase income tax and MPs fear a bloodbath in elections next May in English councils and the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments.