𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Health Secretary Wes Streeting would not be drawn into discussing the future of No 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and brushed off repeated questions about a briefing war within the Government as “silly Westminster soap opera stuff”.

Mr Streeting was repeatedly questioned by broadcasters about the anonymous attacks on him earlier this week as he visited Paddington Community Diagnostic Centre in Liverpool, but he insisted it was “all yesterday’s news”.

Asked about an apology he received from the Prime Minister, the Health Secretary said: “One of the great things about being here in the North West today is you can leave all that silly Westminster soap opera stuff behind.

“What today’s figures show is that the NHS is on the road to recovery and this is a Labour Government which is delivering the change that people voted for: whether it’s falling waiting lists for the first time in 15 years – almost a quarter of a million lower than when we came to office; whether it’s rising satisfaction with GPs – where we promised to recruit 1,000 but actually delivered 2,500 more GPs; or whether it’s the fact that if you got suspected heart attack or stroke symptoms, an ambulance is coming to you about 10 minutes faster than this time last year.

“This is a Government that’s delivering change in the NHS. It’s on the road to recovery. I’d be the first to say though: a lot done, a lot more to do, and that’s what I’m focused on.”

Asked about Mr McSweeney directly, the Health Secretary replied: “I’m sure that Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer and everyone else is absolutely delighted with the news today that NHS waiting lists are falling.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has refused to discuss the Labour briefing war, saying the public do not “give two monkeys” about “Westminster bubble stuff”.

Asked about the saga during a visit to the Paddington Community Diagnostic Centre in Liverpool, the Cabinet minister told the PA news agency: “I have no intention of revisiting yesterday’s events. That’s yesterday’s news and it’s Westminster bubble stuff that doesn’t mean anything to anyone.”

Pressed on whether the Prime Minister would investigate the source of the attacks on him, Mr Streeting said: “No idea. Don’t care.”

He added: “I don’t think voters give two monkeys about what on earth is going on in the sort of Westminster village soap opera. What they do care about is, if they’re on an NHS waiting list, are we getting them down?”

The Health Secretary went on to highlight the fall in the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England, saying: “What we are focusing on is getting our NHS back on its feet. And today’s waiting list figures show the NHS is firmly on the road to recovery.

“Waiting lists are falling for the first time in 15 years, down by almost a quarter of a million now.”

Health secretary Wes Streeting appears to be concentrating on NHS waiting lists as discussions continue surrounding a Downing Street leadership coup.

He shared on X: “New today: we’ve cut waiting lists by 16,000 this month – meaning faster care and less worry for patients. The past year is the first time in 15 years that waiting lists have fallen. There’s a way to go, but we’re getting our NHS on the road to recovery.”

Mr Streeting denied what he called “self-defeating” claims, which he said showed problems with the culture in Sir Keir’s administration.

Morgan McSweeney is Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street Chief of Staff. He’s been at the heart of the leadership row as fingers are pointed for the fallout from the apparent ploy to warn off potential leadership contenders.

Sir Keir was forced to condemn “completely unacceptable” attacks on Cabinet ministers, as he told the Commons on Wednesday: “Morgan McSweeney, my team and I are absolutely focused on delivering for the country.”

Mr McSweeney, who has been Sir Keir’s chief aide since October last year, was the campaign manager for the Labour Party and director of the think tank Labour Together.

Not a single job would be created, asylum hotel closed or pound knocked off the national debt by ousting Keir Starmer – it is time for the Labour Party to act like adults if it is to stop Nigel Farage from marching into No 10.

As well as discussing GDP and the leadership row, Ed Miliband has said he makes “no apologies” for choosing Rolls-Royce to build the UK’s first “small modular reactor” nuclear power station after criticism from the US ambassador.

The Energy Secretary told Times Radio: “It’s true he doesn’t think it’s so great.

“The reason he doesn’t think it’s so great is because he wanted a US company to be at this site.

“Because he thinks it’s the prime site … I totally understand that, it’s completely legitimate for him to be making the case for a US company.

“We chose a British company, Rolls-Royce for this site, and I make no apologies for that.

“Our job is to stand up for the national interest.

“There’s lots of things we’re co-operating with our US colleagues on.”

He said the other site that had been considered, Oldbury in Gloucestershire, could “accommodate various other US companies that are really interested in building new nuclear in this country”.

Senior Labour figures are still furious about the events of the last 36 hours – and demanding the head of Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, The Independent’s Whitehall Editor, Kate Devlin reports.

A Labour peer told the Independent Keir was being “derailed” by some of the people around him.

“It was a mistake to sack Sue Gray, engineered by McSweeney. Some say McSweeney is too powerful to sack – but that would now show Starmer is fully in charge,” he added.