Keir Starmer moved to protect his controversial chief of staff on Thursday, amid growing calls for him to be sacked over ‘toxic’ briefings against Labour MPs and the Cabinet.
The Prime Minister cleared Morgan McSweeney without even holding an investigation after he was accused of being at the centre of a disastrous briefing operation against Wes Streeting, which plunged Labour into turmoil.
Downing Street denied the move was a ‘whitewash’ after No 10 said senior staff had assured the Prime Minister that none of them were involved in the briefing war, in which Labour MPs were branded ‘feral’ – and said he was happy to take them at their word.
However, calls for Mr McSweeney to go continued to grow. Former Labour Cabinet minister Lord Blunkett said it was time for Sir Keir to ‘find another role’ for a man credited with masterminding Labour’s landslide election victory last year.
One Labour source said Downing Street was drawing up contingency plans for Mr McSweeney’s departure if the pressure on him becomes intolerable. The source said he could be offered a face-saving move to a senior role in the party, potentially as general secretary.
But Sir Keir insisted he had ‘full confidence’ in his top aide.
Former Labour communications chief Tom Baldwin, who wrote Sir Keir’s biography, said Mr McSweeney was ‘very important’ to the Prime Minister, adding: ‘I expect him to stay.’
But Mr Baldwin warned him against further attempts to take down the Prime Minister’s political opponents in public, saying: ‘He should stick to his job, which is chief of staff.’
Keir Starmer has cleared his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney after he was accused of being at the centre of a disastrous briefing operation against health secretary Wes Streeting
There have been growing calls for McSweeney (pictured) to be sacked as a result of the apparently orchestrated plan against the health secretary
Labour Party chairman Anna Turley and Chancellor Rachel Reeves both told reporters that Sir Keir had launched an investigation to uncover the author of the poisonous briefing against Health Secretary Mr Streeting, who is seen by many as a potential leadership rival.
But Downing Street shut down the idea, saying the Prime Minister was already satisfied that none of his staff was responsible for briefings that were widely attributed to No 10 sources.
No 10 confirmed the Prime Minister had telephoned Mr Streeting to apologise, but said this was not an admission that his own staff had smeared him.
During a visit to North Wales to announce a new nuclear reactor, Sir Keir told reporters: ‘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.’
Government sources said the Prime Minister had made it clear he would sack any official found guilty of briefing against ministers in future.
This week’s briefing war appears to have been a pre-emptive strike by allies of Sir Keir, who fear rebel MPs could move against him after the November 26 Budget, when Rachel Reeves is expected to break Labour’s manifesto pledge by raising income tax.
No 10 sources said Sir Keir would fight any attempt to remove him. One said: ‘Keir knows he is already fighting a leadership contest. When it comes, he won’t resign. He will fight it. He thinks it’s fantasy politics.’
But the briefing tipped over into abusing Labour MPs and publicly accusing Mr Streeting of plotting.
One source claimed the ambitious Health Secretary had ’50 frontbenchers willing to stand down if the Budget landed badly and the Prime Minister did not go’.
Mr Streeting denied plotting and said the attempt to ‘kneecap’ him was ‘self-defeating and self-destructive’ for the Government. He warned of a ‘toxic culture’ in No 10.
Senior Labour figures yesterday acknowledged the episode had damaged an already weakened Government. Ed Miliband told the BBC: ‘This is self-defeating and we have to face to the country.’
Tony Blair’s former spin chief Alastair Campbell said the chaotic infighting this week ‘makes the Government look all too much like the last one’.
Labour MPs believe a number of senior figures are positioning themselves for a future leadership challenge, including Mr Streeting, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
Speculation about Sir Keir’s leadership has mounted in recent weeks because of Labour’s dire standing in the polls. Less than 18 months after a landslide election victory, he is the most unpopular prime minister in history.
