Ticked off the register: To be fair, Labour whips turned out their flock, with the government benches packed to the rafters despite reports some Labour MPs would boycott the Commons. Starmer entered the chamber with a grin (or grimace) on his face and to a somewhat over-the-top cheer from his colleagues.
Caveat alert: There was no sign of Streeting in the chamber because he was in Manchester to address the NHS Providers Conference — and possibly grab some tips from Labour leadership wannabe and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham?
Grab the hazmat suit: Badenoch quoted Streeting’s comments today, asking if the health secretary was right that the “toxic culture in Downing Street” needed to change. Distancing himself from his allies, Starmer stressed, “let me be absolutely clear — any attack on any member of my cabinet is completely unacceptable.” The PM praised Streeting’s work as health secretary — presumably as that’s where he’d like him to stay.
Buck stops here: The Tory leader joked there was “only one waiting list” Streeting wanted to cut (it’s the way she tells ’em), before probing the PM on if he had full confidence in his influential Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney. “Of course I’ve never authorised attacks on cabinet members,” Starmer responded. “I appointed them to their posts because they’re the best people to carry out their jobs.”
Take note: That was not a full-throated defense of the adviser who has defined Starmer’s time in charge of Labour. Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds and Commons Leader Alan Campbell seemed, at best, glum, as the Tories soaked up the infighting opposite them rather than within their own ranks (for now).
Walk in the park: Badenoch didn’t need to try hard to exploit the difficulties. “The real scandal is that two weeks from a budget, the government has descended into civil war,” she cried. Starmer pointed at his backbenchers and remarked, “this is a united team and we are delivering together,” to roars of derision from the opposition benches. Indeed, saying something is true doesn’t make it so.