Keir Starmer sends blunt message to Cabinet plotters trying to sack him
More than 81 MPs have called for Sir Keir Starmer to resign with the Prime Minister on the brink.
Keir Starmer has dramatically dared plotters to challenge him as he desperately clings onto his premiership. The Prime Minister threw down the gauntlet as he held showdown talks with his Cabinet this morning.
He kicked off the 9.30am meeting with his top team by saying that the formal process for a Labour leadership challenge has not been triggered. He said that he has no intention of going anywhere and that the stability of the country depends on it. It’s a bold move from someone who’s not known for such behaviour.
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But he obviously believes that he still has enough support to lead the government.
The dramatic move came minutes after minister Miatta Fahnbulleh resigned, the first to do so in this coordinated plot against the PM.
More than 70 MP Labour MPs have called for him to go and there’s been a wave of PPS resignations too.
It’s looking bleak for the Prime Minister, despite his defiance.
The next hour or so will be critical to whether he survives.
I was in Downing Street this morning as Cabinet Ministers trooped into No 10 for the weekly meeting.
Ed Miliband, seen as a kingpin in all of this, strode in purposely.
Shabana Mahmoud, the Home Secretary, sneaked in the back door while Wes Streeting appeared determined as he entered the famous black door.
No-one really knows what’s going to happen for the rest of the day.
But what is clear is that the battle for Labour - the Blairites vs the Brownites - is raging.
