Good morning. Many of you will have woken up on Wednesday to the remarkable spectacle of Wes Streeting, the health secretary, having to defend himself on various breakfast programmes, over whether he was plotting a leadership challenge to the prime minister.
My favourite was his jaunty and topical Traitors reference on BBC Breakfast, in response to questions over his alleged plotting.
“I’m a faithful,” he deadpanned. “In fact, what you’ve seen from a silly No 10 source overnight is probably the worst attack on a faithful since Joe Marler was banished in The Traitors final.”
So, what happened while most of us were sleeping? A Guardian story, published late on Tuesday revealed an extraordinary operation to protect Keir Starmer from suspect coups, amid fears among his closest allies that he is vulnerable to a leadership challenge in the wake of the budget.
But does Starmer need to fear for his premiership, or is Streeting right that he’s mistaking the faithful for traitors in his cabinet? And are the attempts to stave off competition shoring up support or backfiring? To answer those questions, I talked to Jessica Elgot, the Guardian’s deputy political editor. But first, the headlines.
Five big stories
Trump | Damning new emails that suggest Donald Trump knew about the conduct of Jeffrey Epstein were released on Wednesday, including one that said Trump “spent hours” with one victim at Epstein’s house.
US news | The longest US government shutdown in history was set to end after more than 42 days, following the House of Representative’s passage of a bill negotiated by Republicans and a splinter group of Democrat-aligned senators.
Environment | The world is still on track for a catastrophic 2.6C increase in temperature as countries have not made sufficiently strong climate pledges, while emissions from fossil fuels have hit a record high, two major reports have found.
Sudan | There are grave fears for civilians who survived the capture of El Fasher by a Sudanese paramilitary group last month, as the UN warned relief operations were on the brink of collapse and an aid group said malnutrition in displacement camps had reached “staggering” levels.
BBC | Reform UK has pulled out of a BBC documentary about the party amid a row over the broadcaster’s editing of a Donald Trump speech. The film, due to be called the Rise of Reform and presented by Laura Kuenssberg, was being made by the independent production company October Films.
In depth: A defence against ‘feral’ MPs
The Guardian’s political editor Pippa Crerar received a number of briefings from aides close to Starmer. The briefings, details of which were published in her story on Tuesday night, were from aides concerned over speculation among MPs of an imminent coup if the budget was badly received.
Streeting was just one of the Labour figures accused of being “on manoeuvres” for the leadership, should a vacancy arise.
But Streeting, already scheduled to do the rounds of TV and radio morning broadcasts to talk about the NHS, was forced to pivot in order to deny reports he was planning a coup, demonstrating his flair at comms.
It was a spectacular own goal from Starmer’s political aides. By Wednesday morning, the Times ran a headline mocking Labour’s attempt to defend itself from “feral” MPs, with the BBC also picking up on the story.
Starmer and his allies were on the back foot, warning that any attempt to oust him would be “reckless,” and reminding the public that no Labour prime minister has ever been forced out of Downing Street by their own MPs. To do such at thing at this point “would be the height of irresponsibility”, said one ally.
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How badly did the No 10 briefing backfire and why?
Perhaps the question should be: could it have been handled any worse? Rather than talking about Starmer’s appetite to fight, Tuesday night’s briefings left Starmer seemingly fighting for control of the narrative, as he watched Streeting demonstrate his agility as a communicator over breakfast.
Jess thinks that it was ultimately a problem of individual leadership that got Starmer here – his inability to articulate a vision seems to have left some in his party, and, they fear, the country, feeling cold after a landslide election that they had hoped would bring relief.
Even before this latest debacle, the optics over the past while haven’t been good: speculation over leadership bids; the winter fuel payment decision; the freebies row; the handling of the welfare cuts, and the Peter Mandelson scandal were all set out by Pippa and Jess in a previous Saturday read as problems dogging his premiership. Those issues have not gone away.
“I try to put myself in the shoes of No 10,” said Jess. “What they are thinking is that there’s been an extraordinary amount of leadership chatter.”
Two months ago, Andy Burnham, the Manchester mayor, launched his own leadership manoeuvrings, and since then, there’s been continuing conversation around replacing Starmer, as if it’s inevitable that he won’t be in position to fight at the next election. This, Jess says, has led to a “paranoia” in No 10.
“People close to No 10 will say to me: ‘I actually don’t think they intended to put the spotlight on Wes. What they wanted to do was make it really clear that Keir is not going anywhere, that he will fight any attempt to dislodge him, that he is not the sort of person who will go meekly away, that he will fight.’” Unfortunately, it’s not the message that seems to have taken hold.
Starmer is now facing pressure over Morgan McSweeney, after the PM’s chief of staff was blamed for No 10’s pushback against a possible leadership challenge.
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Who else might be eyeing up the leadership?
While Streeting is seen as the biggest threat internally, and was the main topic of news on Wednesday, there are several potential leadership contenders being talked about. In addition to Burnham, those include Bridget Phillipson, Shabana Mahmood, and even Angela Rayner.
Jess says No 10 have “worked themselves up into a real anger” over Streeting’s positioning over the last few months, as he has seemingly been trying to set himself up as a good counter to Starmer, as someone who speaks out more about Gaza and progressive issues such as anti-racism.
“We can see how he will use any opportunity to talk about progressive values, what it means to be an anti-racist politician, to take on Farage,” says Jess. She adds that his manoeuvres seem so audacious in No 10 that they’ve created a sense of urgency in needing to respond to the threat he poses.
A good question still worth asking, now that this is all out, is whether Streeting is the right person to take over from Starmer and lead the party.
“He is seen as someone who is on the right of the party, but he’s now talking about issues that really matter to the left. He’s clearly an ambitious politician. Lots of people in and around Westminster have preconceptions about Streeting, but around the country he’s a relative unknown, apart from the fact he seems to be able to chat fairly well on TV. If he wants to win the leadership, the main group he would need to win over is the Labour party and the Labour members. Talking to the country and talking to members is very different and he is trying to do both.”
Still, Jess says that Streeting shares the ability, along with Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson to “communicate with a degree of authenticity” that so many politicians find difficult, as they are afraid of saying the wrong thing.
“He doesn’t need to think and process and say a line over and over. He’s just able to instinctively say the thing he thinks,” she says. That could be a real challenge for Starmer, whom the public seem to have trouble trusting of late.
But with regard to Streeting’s policies, there is little to go on, in terms of how he may do things differently, says Jess. “A few people said to me this morning: ‘We don’t know what would be different.’”
What else we’ve been reading
With the number of over-55s using online housing rental services more than doubling in a decade, more people than ever are trying to find common ground with flatmates half their age. Kate McCusker hears their stories. Martin Belam, newsletters team
This thoughtful piece by Rafael Behr links a lack of “collective identity” in British life to the “mess” in politics, including the BBC crisis and the furore over the accidental release of prisoners from jail.
It is two decades since Extras first aired on the BBC. Here, Emma Lunn gives you the lowdown on how signing up to be a TV and film extra can be a valuable side hustle. Martin
I enjoyed Jess Cartner-Morley’s take on how gen Z’s “first lady”, Rama Duwaji, wife of the New York mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, is reshaping political fashion. Karen
Every week I write the Thursday news quiz, a somewhat mischievous and irreverent look back at the week’s news, with a lovely community discussing how they got on in the comments. Martin
Sport
Football | Arsenal relinquished a 2-0 advantage and all three points to Bayern Munich to plunge their Women’s Champions League defence into tricky waters, while Manchester United beat Paris Saint‑Germain courtesy of Fridolina Rolfö’s expert second-half header.
Olympics | The women’s 100m final will headline the first day of competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics as part of organisers’ plans to “open with a bang”. The surprise decision, which will lead to all three rounds of the 100m taking place on the same day, was welcomed by the US sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson, who said it showed that “track and field is having its moment”.
Football | Thomas Tuchel has warned he is unlikely to take five No 10s to the World Cup and has said that Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane cannot start together unless England change their system.
The front pages
The Guardian leads with “‘He knew about the girls’: Epstein messages pile pressure on Trump”, and the Mirror has “Trump ‘spent hours with Giuffre’”. Top story at the Telegraph says “Streeting goes to war with No 10”, while the Mail frames the Downing Street dramas as “Ousting PM will trigger an election, Starmer’s allies warn”. The Times goes with “PM told to fire top aide as civil war hits Labour”, and the FT has “Downing Street briefings fiasco piles pressure on Starmer”. The i paper says “No 10 in turmoil before Budget as ministers turn their anger on top aide McSweeney”. “Peaty’s armed cop escort after stag do threat” – that was the Sun on the Olympian Adam Peaty’s arrival at Manchester airport.
Today in Focus
Is Trump going to war with Venezuela?
As US aircraft carriers and 10,000 soldiers are deployed to the region, there are questions about what the US plans for Venezuela, and who in the Trump administration is driving this policy of aggression. Andrew Roth and Tom Phillips report.
Cartoon of the day | Nicola Jennings
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
For decades, encroaching desert sands have threatened to bury Chinguetti, a tiny settlement deep in the Sahara in Mauritania. Known as the city of libraries, it has been a centuries-old well of knowledge – and a Unesco world heritage site since 1996.
The Madrid-based nonprofit Terrachidia has helped restore several of its manuscript libraries, working with local builders and traditional materials to preserve the town’s architecture and its treasured texts.
Saif Islam, 67, runs one of the few libraries still open to the public. One of the last guardians of Chinguetti’s legacy, he sits in a shaded courtyard, stroking his grey beard as he gestures to a 10th-century Qur’an, its pages browned by time. “It’s these books that gave it this history, this importance,” he says. “Without these old dusty books, Chinguetti would have been forgotten like any other abandoned town.”
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
