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A key ally of Keir Starmer has been accused of needlessly reigniting Labour’s civil war as No.10 was slammed for the high number of U-turns.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Prime Minister, was blamed for anonymous briefings against Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

And a senior Cabinet minister on Sunday called on Labour’s warring tribes to stop fighting, adding “I wish they’d stop it”.

Allies of Wes Streeting hit back this weekend, accusing Downing Street of orchestrating a “needless and completely baffling” briefing war against him, adding the conspirators were “hitting itself in the face with a frying pan” while Reform UK and the Tories “are tearing themselves apart”.

It comes after Mr Streeting criticised the number of Government u-turns. Mr Jones has denied being behind the briefings.

One source said: “Darren thinks he is playing a clever game. These briefings are carefully calculated to damage Wes and the prime minister in order to advance his [ Jones’s] own leadership ambitions.”

Kevin Hollinrake MP, Conservative Party Chairman, said: “It is extraordinary that Darren Jones, one of the Prime Minister’s closest and most trusted Ministers, has been accused of briefing against a senior Cabinet colleague.

“This kind of infighting goes right to the heart of a government that is already losing control, having committed 13 u-turns and counting.

“The Prime Minister needs to get a grip of his Cabinet and act decisively, but he won’t because time and again he has shown he is simply too weak to stand up to his Cabinet and MP’s.”

Asked if the Cabinet was a nest of vipers vying to replace Sir Keir Starmer, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the Camilla Tominey Show on GB News: “Well, I don’t agree with that. I mean, you wouldn’t expect me to agree with that, but I won’t lie to you. It is deeply, deeply frustrating.

“I open the papers on – well, you don’t open the papers anymore, do you? But I clicked on the app on Saturday with a feeling of like…just the sinking feeling, because the noise around all of this is really, really frustrating.

“I don’t want to dress it up for you, it frustrates the hell out of me. You’ve got people at the moment who have had 15 years of life just getting harder and harder, worrying whether the opportunities that they had will be on offer for their kids, and quite often, over recent decades, feeling that the answer is no, and we’ve got one shot to turn that around.

“I do think, though, to be really clear, I think that the Cabinet is working together really well. I think we’re very close. We’ve known each other for quite some time, and there is nothing like being in opposite

“I’m frustrated by the noise. I’m frustrated by the people who go and talk about these things and brief against each other, or, you know, leak. I would say leak, but actually, most of what I read in the papers bears no relation to the sort of conversations that we have behind closed doors, not just what we say, but the tone of what we say. I’m frustrated by those people, and I just wish they’d stop it.”

And Labour chiefs are desperately trying to avoid another humiliating rebellion as Lisa Nandy insisted the intelligence services won’t be “exempt” from major new transparency rules.

The Culture Secretary admitted ministers are scrambling to strike a deal with MPs who are concerned the Hillsborough Law’s “duty of candour” is being watered down.

Andy Burnham, the Greater Mayor of Manchester, has called on the Government to withdraw an amendment to the Hillsborough Law that “creates too broad an opt-out” for the security services.

Campaigners have argued this would allow those running the security services to decide whether to disclose information.