Streetings Brief 15 Minute Showdown With PM

Labour leadership hopeful Wes Streeting’s big showdown meeting in Downing Street with Keir Starmer lasted barely 15 minutes.

The grim-faced health secretary said nothing to waiting reporters as he left No.10 shortly less than 20 minutes after walking in.

Both the prime minister’s and Streeting’s teams were remaining tight-lipped about the talks as they do not want to overshadow the King’s Speech later this morning.

Streeting had been expected to demand answers from the PM on how he plans to turn around Labour’s fortunes after the party suffered a drubbing in last week’s elections.

The health secretary has made no public comments since Starmer told his cabinet rivals to put up or shut up at their weekly meeting on Tuesday amid mounting speculation he was set to face a leadership challenge.

Starmer said: “The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a cabinet.”

More than 80 Labour MPs have called on the PM to quit, and four of his ministers resigned on Tuesday.

They included junior health minister Zubir Ahmed, a former aide to Streeting.

On Radio 4′s Today programme this morning, he called on cabinet ministers to speak publicly about their true opinions of Starmer.

He said: “I think it’s very telling – just as ministers in the junior ministerial ranks have stepped forward to articulate their dissatisfaction, some of us publicly but more of us privately – that the whole of the cabinet has not, on this occasion, been able to articulate support for the prime minister in the full-throated way that would have perhaps had happen in the past.

“I think there is a responsibility on all of us in parliament and ministerial office to be honest with ourselves and the prime minister at this time.”

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, a close ally of the PM, told the same programme that none of Starmer’s rivals have the required amount ofd support from Labour MPs to challenge him.

He said: “The evidence of the last two days is there isn’t an alternative candidate with those 81 names.”

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