“Wednesday is a firebreak,” said one Labour official, granted anonymity like others quoted in this piece to speak frankly. “People will see that it’s disrespectful to [Buckingham] Palace — there will be a sense of duty around the monarchy that will kick in for some people.”
A government official echoed the same point, noting: “You can’t make a fool of the king, can you?”
The sudden pause in intra-party hostilities comes after a whipsaw day in Westminster politics. Early Tuesday, the prime minister faced down his critics at a Cabinet meeting, refusing to allow discussion of his own leadership and declining a request by Health Secretary Wes Streeting — a key potential challenger — to meet in private immediately afterwards.
Streeting is instead due to meet Starmer on Wednesday morning to ask the prime minister how he plans to get the party out of its mess. An ally of Streeting said the health secretary would not make a statement after the meeting that might distract from the monarch.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was urging colleagues Tuesday night to “step back, take a breath, remember that we have the king’s speech.” No wonder. People familiar with the matter told POLITICO that the king’s team had made clear to Starmer’s officials the importance of protecting Charles from any impression that he is being used for political ends in the Labour leadership fight.
Charles, in words written by Starmer’s government, is due to announce more than 35 planned or draft bills including an immigration crackdown, health reform, digital ID, closer EU alignment and energy infrastructure. That whole agenda could all soon be junked by a different prime minister.