Labour is engaged in a fresh bout of infighting as the fallout from Sir Keir Starmer‘s benefits U-turn sparked new claims about the Prime Minister’s future.
In his third major policy reversal in recent weeks, Sir Keir has caved in the face of a backbench rebellion to water down plans to cut £5billion from Britain’s welfare bill.
It followed his previous U-turns on axing winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners, and on holding a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
The chaotic climbdowns have come as Sir Keir approaches his first anniversary as PM, following Labour’s general election landslide in July last year.
Leading historian Sir Anthony Seldon this morning claimed Sir Keir had made the most ‘inept’ start for any premier in the last 100 years.
And polling guru Sir John Curtice said it was ‘the worst start for any newly-elected prime minister, Labour or Conservative’.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir was issued with a warning that he might not celebrate a second anniversary in Downing Street.
An ally of Deputy PM Angela Rayner told the Mail on Sunday that they expected Sir Keir to be ousted within 12 months.
Labour is engaged in a fresh bout of infighting as the fallout from Sir Keir Starmer ‘s benefits U-turn sparked new claims about the Prime Minister’s future
Health Secretary Wes Streeting attempted to rally round Sir Keir as he dismissed speculation about his own leadership ambitions
An ally of Deputy PM Angela Rayner told the Mail on Sunday that they expected Sir Keir to be ousted within 12 months
‘After next year’s Welsh and local elections, if Starmer does not stand down, he will face a challenge,’ they said.
‘People have just had enough and Keir is gravely wounded.’
But senior Cabinet minister Wes Streeting attempted to rally round Sir Keir as he dismissed speculation about his own leadership ambitions.
‘There is no other job I would rather be doing,’ the Health Secretary told Sky News, as he hit out at ‘mischief-making’.
Mr Streeting branded questions about the PM’s position as ‘a load of rubbish’, adding: ‘I’m not entertaining it.’
Other allies of the PM lashed out at those rebel MPs that had forced the PM’s U-turn on benefits cuts.
One MP told the Sunday Times that many of those elected to Parliament for the first time last July were suffering from ‘main character syndrome’.
‘These complaints about the PM not talking to new MPs – well he’s a bit f***ing busy talking to President Trump,’ they added.
Another ally of Sir Keir said: ‘I think there are a lot of [new MPs] who worked in the charity sector who think they are really important.
‘There’s no respect for a leader who has worked incredibly hard to fix the party and who got them elected just 12 months ago.’
But the rebel MPs were also said to have felt ’emboldened’ by the welfare U-turn, following claims of a need for ‘regime change’ in No10.
The welfare U-turn has seen fresh scrutiny of Sir Keir’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, with the powerful aide coming under attack over his handling of the row.
But, in a newspaper interview, Sir Keir insisted it was himself who should ‘carry the can’ for the humiliating climbdown.
‘All these decisions are my decisions and I take ownership of them,’ he said.
The Government’s original welfare package had restricted eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which is the main disability payment in England.
It also cut the health-related element of Universal Credit.
Existing recipients were to be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support in an earlier bid by ministers to head off backbench opposition.
But, following the Government’s latest offer of concessions to rebel MPs, the changes to PIP will now only be implemented in November 2026 and apply to new claimants only.
All existing recipients of the health element of Universal Credit will also have their incomes protected in real terms.
Mr Streeting said he is confident the Government will now win a crunch House of Commons vote on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill on Tuesday.
He told Sky News the changes ‘have put us in a much better position’, adding: ‘As a result of the changes, it means anyone watching this morning who’s in receipt of PIP now has the peace of mind of knowing that their situation is protected.’
Mr Streeting refused to be drawn when asked if Labour backbenchers who vote against the Bill will lose the whip. ‘That’s not my decision,’ he said.
The concessions on PIP alone protect some 370,000 people currently receiving the allowance who were set to lose out following reassessment.
Ministers had hoped the reforms would get more people back into work and save up to £5 billion a year.
But the concessions have left Chancellor Rachel Reeves needing to find money elsewhere and point to possible fresh tax rises in the autumn.
Ex-Cabinet minister Louise Haigh, who was a leading rebel over the Government’s now partially-reversed welfare cuts, called for Sir Keir to ‘reset’ his relationship with the British public.
‘I think this is a moment and an opportunity to reset the Government’s relationship with the British public and to move forward, to adopt a different approach to our economic policy and our political strategy,’ she told the BBC.
‘And I think that has been accepted from within government and a lot of people, both in the parliamentary Labour Party, but crucially, the country will really welcome that.’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will hit out at Sir Keir as ‘incapable of sticking to a decision’ after he backed down on his plans.
The reforms would only have made ‘modest reductions to the ballooning welfare bill’, but the PM was ‘too weak to hold the line’, she is expected to say in an upcoming speech.
Helen Whately, the Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary, claimed there were still ‘a lot of Labour MPs who are very unhappy’ over the Government’s benefits reforms, despite them being watered down.
Asked if the Tories would vote for the Government’s Bill on Tuesday, she told Sky News: ‘We’re expecting to see a statement from the Secretary of State (Liz Kendall) tomorrow. We’ll see actually, what she sets out in it.
‘We have said that if there are more savings that actually bring the welfare bill down, if they’ll get more people into work, and if they commit to using the savings to avoid tax cuts in the autumn, which looks highly unlikely at the moment, then they have our support.’
Sir Anthony, the historian who is considered to be Britain’s leading political biographer, said of Sir Keir: ‘I think it is absolutely right that not in 100 years has anyone made such an inept start coming into the office of prime minister.
He added that Sir Keir had shown ‘little idea about what he’s doing, why he’s doing it, what story he’s telling, what he’s communicating’.
Sir John, a leading polling expert, told Times Radio that Labour had seen the ‘biggest fall in public support for any newly elected British government’.
‘Labour only won 35 per cent of the vote – the lowest share ever for a majority government,’ he said.
‘Keir Starmer was never especially popular, and the public still don’t know what he stands for.’
‘The only vision he’s really presented is: ‘We’ll fix the problems the Conservatives left us.’ But it’s not clear how he wants to change the country.’
He added: ‘Apologies rarely help. U-turns can suggest a lack of direction – which is already one of this Government’s biggest problems.’
The MP ally of Ms Rayner added that while the Labour Left would prefer Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to succeed Sir Keir, he is not currently an MP, making Ms Rayner ‘the most acceptable and most viable option’.
They rejected Ms Rayner’s insistence that she had ‘no desire’ to be PM, saying: ‘That’s what she would say’ – adding that of all the potential Labour leaders, she could challenge Nigel Farage as ‘a genuine working-class woman against a man who just wants working-class votes’.
But one MP close to Ms Rayner insisted last night that she was focusing on her Government job, and dismissed talk of leadership manoeuvreings as nonsense.
A poll for the Mail on Sunday found that 61 per cent of voters think Sir Keir should quit as PM.
According to the survey by Find Out Now, only 25 per cent think Sir Keir will still be in Downing Street by the next election, with even Labour supporters split 50/50 on the question.
Futhermore, a total of 64 per cent think that Ms Reeves should be fired by Sir Keir.
