Wes Streeting has denied leading a plot to overthrow the prime minister and called for those briefing against him to be sacked, widening an extraordinary rift at the top of government. <\/p>\n
The health secretary condemned \u201cself-defeating\u201d attacks on him coming from Downing Street and said they were indicative of a toxic culture inside No 10. <\/p>\n
He rebuked the senior aides behind the anonymous briefings and said they proved that \u201cthere are people around the prime minister who do not follow his model and style of leadership\u201d. <\/p>\n
Streeting was responding to the Guardian\u2019s report <\/a>that Downing Street had launched an operation to protect Keir Starmer against a leadership challenge his allies believe could come from the Ilford North MP after the budget or May local elections.<\/p>\n The prime minister\u2019s closest allies said he would fight any \u201creckless\u201d attempt to oust him, which they warned would affect the markets and the UK\u2019s international relationships. In early trading on Wednesday UK government borrowing costs rose as the price of gilts \u2013 UK government bonds \u2013 slipped in value amid the speculation over a leadership challenge.<\/p>\n Speaking to BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme, Streeting said the attacks on him showed that \u201cLucy Powell was right about the culture of No 10 and I would just like to commend the briefer on at least picking on one of the men instead of the women in the cabinet\u201d.<\/p>\n Powell, who was elected Labour\u2019s deputy leader last month, has called for a culture change inside No 10<\/a> and said she has been the target of negative briefings from the prime minister\u2019s team. At a dinner reception in October she singled out Morgan McSweeney, Starmer\u2019s most senior aide, for criticism.<\/p>\n Streeting said on Wednesday: \u201cI can tell you without having even spoken to the prime minister what he thinks of briefing, what his reaction will be to the front pages and the broadcast bulletins overnight and the words I\u2019m sure he would use are not suitable for a family show.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether the prime minister should sack the people responsible, he said: \u201cYes, but he\u2019s got to find them first and I wouldn\u2019t expect him to spend loads of time on this.\u201d<\/p>\n The health secretary said he was frustrated that the internal row was distracting from the Labour<\/a> government\u2019s message and its achievements after more than a year in office. \u201cI don\u2019t understand how anyone thinks it\u2019s helpful to the prime minister either to suggest that he\u2019s fighting for his job,\u201d he told Sky News.<\/p>\n \u201cThese sorts of Westminster bubble process stories, boys getting carried away, these are the things that distract from our ability to get across the message of the change we\u2019re making, the difference we\u2019re making.\u201d<\/p>\n He likened the \u201cunhelpful\u201d and \u201cself-defeating\u201d briefings to conspiracy theories and told broadcasters: \u201cWhoever\u2019s been briefing this has been watching too much Celebrity Traitors \u2013 and this is just about the most worst attack on the faithful since Joe Marler was kicked out and banished in the final.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked to rule out demanding Starmer\u2019s resignation after the budget, the health secretary told Sky News: \u201cYes, and nor did I shoot JFK. I don\u2019t know where Lord Lucan is, had nothing to do with Shergar, and I do think that the US did manage to do the moon landings. I don\u2019t think they were fake.\u201d<\/p>\n Streeting\u2019s spokesperson was forced to deny suggestions he had the backing of 50 frontbenchers who were willing to quit if the budget landed badly and Starmer did not resign.<\/p>\n One critic within government told several news outlets No 10 had gone into \u201cfull bunker mode\u201d.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Cabinet ministers told the Guardian Streeting was just one of several Labour figures who were seen as being \u201con manoeuvres\u201d for the leadership should a vacancy arise, but that none of them were likely to move against Starmer now.<\/p>\n