Starmer should not consider his position, Home Secretary says

Sir Keir Starmer should not be thinking about standing aside amid the turmoil at the top of Government, his Home Secretary has said.

Shabana Mahmood also described the row at the top of Government that took place earlier this week as “embarrassing for everyone concerned”.

The bitter briefing war which broke out on Tuesday night saw allies of the Prime Minister insist he was willing to fight off any challenges to his leadership.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting was singled out as a challenger, amid warnings that toppling the Prime Minister would result in market chaos.

It comes as the Government is grappling with its own Labour MPs, who are worried about the approach of ministers to a host of issues, and the party’s current polling.

Ms Mahmood was asked on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips if the Prime Minister needed to think again about his leadership after a difficult week for No 10.

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.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Labour are “fighting like rats in a sack”.

He claimed the Tories have moved on from party divisions, and told Sky News: “Instead of serving the national interest, the Labour Government are fighting each other just weeks away from a budget that will unleash enormous tax rises on this country that will drive up unemployment even further.”

Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner was the latest senior Labour figure to condemn the infighting at the heart of Government, describing it as “arrogant tittle tattle”.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror during a constituency visit to a care centre, Ms Rayner also said the anonymous briefings and speculation over possible leadership manoeuvring were detached from the issues affecting everyday people.