SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar demanded PM Keir Starmer stand down yesterday, saying: ‘The distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.’
He continued: ‘It is so obvious that we desperately need change in Scotland and in three months time the opportunity to get rid of a failing SNP government is one that is too important to be missed.
‘We cannot allow the failures at the heart of Downing Street to mean the failures continue here in Scotland, because the election in May is not without consequences for the lives of Scots.
‘We have an NHS crisis where too many Scots cannot access the treatment they need when they need it. We have a housing emergency with more than 10,000 Scottish children homeless right now.’
He went on: ‘The situation in Downing Street is not good enough. There have been too many mistakes. They promised they were going to be different but too much has happened.
‘Have there been good things? Of course there have. Many of them. But no-one knows them and no-one can hear them because they are being drowned out. That is why it cannot continue.’
Starmer appeared before the Parliamentary Labour Party last night where he was expected to hear further such demands to go.
Earlier yesterday, his Director of Communications Tim Allan quit, following the resignation of his Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney who had resigned the day before.
After Allan’s resignation and Sarwar’s 2.30pm press conference, but ahead of last night’s Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) meeting, Cabinet members sought to shore up the collapsing Starmer Premiership.
David Lammy, deputy prime minister, was the first to publicly back him, saying: ‘Keir Starmer won a massive mandate 18 months ago, for five years to deliver on Labour’s manifesto that we all stood on.’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘It has not been the best week for the government. Give Keir a chance.’
Former Deputy leader Angela Rayner, said: ‘I urge all my colleagues to come together, remember our values and put them into practice as a team. The Prime Minister has my full support in leading us to that end.’
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘At this crucial time it’s important to have leadership not just at home but on the global stage, and we need to keep our focus where it matters, on keeping our country safe.’
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: ‘This is not the time for the government to turn inwards on itself. We must focus on delivering the change we promised the country.’
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said Starmer ‘has my full support as he works in difficult circumstances to deliver.’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: ‘With Keir as our Prime Minister, we are turning the country around.’
Whether such verbal support ahead of last night’s PLP meeting from cabinet members who are fully and equally identified with the massively unpopular policies which Starmer has foisted on the Labour Party would be enough to save him, remains to be seen.