Starmer latest: Streeting accused of orchestrating No 10 coup as embattled PM vows to fight on – UK Times

The most senior civil servant in No 10 is expected to negotiate his departure and stand down from his role amid a shake up of Downing Street.

Cabinet secretary Chris Wormald is due to follow Tim Allan and Morgan McSweeney in the next few days, according to The Guardian.

Those close to Mr Wormald have reportedly deemed him to be a “disastrous” appointment.

One government source told the paper “the writing is on the wall” for Wormald, with Starmer keen to reassert his authority over his party and government.

Keir Starmer is set to hold a cabinet meeting today after surviving calls for his resignation on Monday.

The meeting, held every Tuesday, follows a tumultuous day for the prime minister yesterday, in which Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for him to go.

All of Sir Keir’s cabinet came out in his support and insisted he should stay prime minister.

The Prime Minister said he was “not prepared to walk away”.

We are in a bad place as a country. Our governance is rotten; our political class is fragmenting before our eyes. Of course, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage will argue that this is not true, that it is merely a Labour problem – and one that their respective parties can resolve. But should we put our faith in a Conservative successor to Boris Johnson and Liz Truss? Or in someone who lied about Brexit and accepts money from donors with no obvious allegiance to this country?

Chris Blackhurst reports:

Sir Keir Starmer held a meeting with the parliamentary Labour party on Monday in which he said he was “not prepared to walk away” from his mandate and his responsibilities as prime minister.

He urged his party to unite against Reform and said that he had “never lost a fight”.

It comes after several cabinet ministers backed his leadership after Scottish Labour leader called on him to resign after controversy surrounding the mention of Lord Peter Mandelson in the latest release of the Epstein files.

Mr Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, largely credited with Labour’s win at the last election and his director of communications Tim Allan resigned within 24 hours of each other.

MPs grilled the PM over his appointment of Matthew Doyle to the House of Lords.

The government is committed to release of all files pertaining to Lord Mandelson and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, said chief secretary to the prime minister, Darren Jones, in an address to the House of Commons on Monday.

Health secretary Wes Streeting chose to get ahead of any controversy by releasing his texts with Mandelson himself. He accused Israel of “war crimes” in the exchanges, said the government had no plan for economic growth and believed himself to be “toast” at the next general election.

A website named angelaforleader.co.uk was briefly published in January, prompting speculation that Angela Rayner could have been preparing for a bid for the Labour leadership, according to the Guardian.

After days of speculation over his political relationship and friendship with Lord Mandelson, Mr Streeting passed his text messages to Sky News in a bid to clear the air.

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports:

The Independent’s Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

The prime minister has said that he will not resign after mounting pressure to step down.

“I have had my detractors every step along the way, and I’ve got them now,” he told a meeting of the parliamentary Labour party on Monday.

“Detractors that don’t want a Labour government at all, and certainly not one to succeed.

“But I’ll tell you this, after having fought so hard for the chance to change our country, I’m not prepared to walk away from my mandate and my responsibility to my country, or to plunge us into chaos, as others have done.”

In a last-minute news conference Scottish leader Anas Sarwar said he felt compelled to do what was right for Scotland in calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign.

“The situation in Downing Street is not good enough,” he said. “There have been too many mistakes. They promised they were going to be different, but too much has happened.”

He confirmed he spoke to Mr Starmer earlier today, adding: “It’s safe to say that he and I disagreed.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has shared that it was a “painful” decision to call on Keir Starmer to resign.

“There is probably no one in Scottish politics that’s had a better relationship with Keir Starmer or a closer friendship with Keir Starmer than I have,” he told reporters on Monday afternoon.

Mr Sarwar said of Starmer: “He is someone that I have campaigned alongside, worked alongside for the last five years in my role as leader, someone that I campaigned ferociously for to make sure we could get rid of a Tory government, and someone who I have supported in the last 18 months.

“So does this cause me personal hurt and pain? Of course, it does.”

The UK government has reiterated its commitment to release all of the remaining files associated with disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, but did not give a deadline for their release.

“The government is committed to publishing all relevant documents in line with the motion agreed by the House, and is working at pace to do so,” chief secretary to the prime minister, Darren Jones, told the House of Commons on Monday.

He said the government is dedicated to being “transparent as soon as possible and in full compliance with the motion.”

He added: “The Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Secretary to liaise with the Intelligence and Security Committee, and I will ensure that the House is kept updated on this work.”