The accusations that Wes Streeting is being disloyal to Keir Starmer only serve to undermine the prime minister himself

The defection of Robert Jenrick from the Conservatives to Reform has triggered another outbreak of Labour infighting, with unnamed cabinet ministers suggesting the PM should copy Kemi Badenoch and sack the health secretary. But, says John Rentoul, these are counterproductive

It takes a peculiar kind of genius to see your opponents in turmoil and think, “We could do with a bit of that.” Thus the response of not one but three cabinet ministers to Robert Jenrick’s defection to Reform was not to keep quiet and watch two opposition parties tear each other apart.

No, they decided that this would be the time to reopen the wounds of Labour’s civil war. They thought it would be a good idea to tell Stephen Swinford and Patrick Maguire of The Times that Keir Starmer should copy Kemi Badenoch’s pre-emptive strike against Jenrick by sacking Wes Streeting.

They were so annoyed by Streeting’s “wild behaviour”, “breaching collective responsibility” and “pushing the boundary of what’s acceptable” that they decided the best way to support the prime minister would be to breach collective responsibility themselves.

Presumably they told themselves that what Starmer would have wanted, given Streeting’s cheek in warning that the government should “get it right first time”, is that they should behave even more badly, briefing anonymously against the health secretary.

On the contrary, this level of semi-public recrimination suggests a premiership in its death throes. There was nothing wrong with Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, loyally urging her colleagues at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday to form a Praetorian guard around the prime minister – nothing except her shaky grasp of Roman history, in which the Praetorian guard repeatedly murdered emperors.

But supplying journalists with colourful anonymous quotations accusing Streeting of undermining the prime minister succeeds only in undermining the prime minister.

Cabinet minister number one said Labour MPs “don’t like” what Streeting is doing, and they would back Starmer “if he acted”. Minister number two said of Streeting: “Everyone knows he has MPs from the 2024 intake telling anyone who’ll listen that it’s time to get rid of Keir and make Wes PM instead.” Which is true, but there are not many MPs saying that, because they are all too aware of the obstacles, not least the party’s members, who are currently more likely to choose Angela Rayner if there were a leadership election.

Minister number three was less incendiary, suggesting that Streeting was intensely ambitious, and will think himself a “failure” if he doesn’t become prime minister, and that he has been “pushing the boundary of what’s acceptable”, which is also true, although it was unwise to say so out loud.

Streeting’s not-very-coded comments on Tuesday regretting U-turns and warning against blaming civil servants did indeed push at the boundaries, but they did not cross them, unlike the suggestion that he should be sacked. Streeting’s envious colleagues have succeeded in making matters worse for a prime minister already in serious trouble.

The U-turn on compulsory digital IDs this week was a case study in Starmer’s weaknesses. A junior minister told Tim Shipman of The Spectator – more anonymous briefing – that all the ministers said the policy wasn’t “baked through”. They were ignored “because the PM needed something to announce” in September.

The policy was driven by the managers of No 10’s media planning grid. “Keir’s announcement was written by the grid people. It never went near policy people. This is the key to understanding No 10. There is no policy function, never has been under Keir, and now Darren Jones is floundering around trying to introduce one.”

Jones, who was appointed to a new post as chief secretary to the prime minister in September, has yet to bring order to the chaos. The U-turn has had a damaging effect on Labour MPs, even though most of them agree with it. They are losing faith in Starmer’s ability to get better at “doing politics”.

Which is why the renewed outbreak of cabinet infighting is so disastrous for the prime minister. Calling anonymously for Streeting to be sacked does not help Starmer. That ought to be so obvious that some people who have watched too much of The Traitors have even suggested that the three unnamed cabinet ministers are really Streeting supporters trying to destabilise Starmer.

That would be a plot twist too far. It is already enough of an unintended consequence that a ruckus on the right should end up doing most damage to the helpless bystander in No 10.