Keir Starmer faced an end-of-term grilling from MPs this afternoon (15 December) at the liaison committee, the cross-party group of MPs made up of select committee chairs. The meeting was brought forward slightly to give Starmer time to jet off to Berlin this evening, where he will meet with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky alongside other European leaders to discuss bringing an end to the war.
Here are three things we learned from the Prime Minister’s appearance:
1. Keir Starmer refused to rule out sacking whoever has been responsible for the Downing St leaks if his inquiry manages to find the culprit
The liaison committee’s questions for the PM covered two broad themes – “standards in public life” and “progress on the plan for change”. Starting off with this first meaty topic, Starmer was grilled on the various briefings and leaks which have caused havoc for his government over the past few months. He was asked what he is doing about “Downing Street advisers [who] have been briefing against serving cabinet ministers”, in reference to briefings against the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, which erupted in mid-November. Starmer told the committee that such briefings are “unacceptable whether that is from No 10 or anywhere else”. He added: “I have made that repeatedly clear to my staff.”
But MPs were not satisfied with this answer. Pointing to briefings which appeared in the Financial Times – which alluded to the contents of the Autumn budget – Starmer was asked again what steps he is taking to prevent such incidents happening in future. Last week, Rachel Reeves told the Treasury Select Committee of her fury about the leak, saying she was absolutely categorical it was not an authorised briefing. Starmer pointed to the ongoing leak inquiry announced by the Treasury Minister, James Murray, on 4 December. “In relation to that incident, there is a leak inquiry going on,” he told MPs, “I have no reason to think it was a leak from No 10.” He told the committee in the past he has “taken action” over leaking, which would “go as far as removing individuals”, but added that he would wait for the results of the inquiry before taking any concrete action. “I’ll get to the bottom of these leaks. In any organisation, they are intolerable,” the PM said.
2. Starmer publicly acknowledged the speculation over his position as Labour leader
Among the clamour from MPs pressing Starmer on what action he plans to take over briefing and leaking, the Prime Minister was asked about his own position. Over the past couple of months, speculation has mounted across Westminster over how long he can last in No.10. This weekend, speculation arose once again over the potential for Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, to return to the Commons and directly challenge Starmer for the leadership. The mid-November briefings which erupted around Streeting accused the Health Secretary of planning to mount a coup against Starmer, with Downing Street insiders reportedly insisting the PM would “fight” any attempt to oust him. When asked if he could describe speculation around the Labour leadership as “purely party political” , Starmer told MPs, “No, I’m not sure I can. It seems to be pretty rife”.
3. The PM is furious with the British Medical Association (BMA)
When asked by the Conservative MP Simon Hoare how gutted, on a scale of 1-10, he is the BMA voted to commence strike action on Wednesday, Starmer said: “Very gutted. 10/10. I think it’s irresponsible.” The union announced 83 per cent of its members had voted to continue with the 5-day walkout, despite the government’s new offer which included increasing specialist training places and covering out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees. The offer did not include a pay increase. The BMA rejected it, saying this would not increase the overall number of posts but would repurpose jobs from “locally employed” roles already present in the health service. Starmer called on the BMA to “reflect on what they’re doing” adding that he thinks the union is “losing the support of the public” and their colleagues in the NHS. The strike will begin at 7am Wednesday.
[Further reading: Greens see another wave of defections from Labour]
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