Sir Keir Starmer has been warned by Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell to “get a grip” in No 10 or risk losing power to Nigel Farage. In a withering attack, Campbell said public support for the prime minister was “draining away” fast, adding that the government had “no compelling narrative” and had scored “too many own goals”.
The intervention comes amid reports that the prime minister has apologised to his health secretary Wes Streeting over a briefing operation conducted against him from within Downing Street. Campbell said the prime minister needs to reassert control as Sir Keir faces demands to sack his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, over claims that Streeting was preparing to launch a leadership coup.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Campbell said: “The worst thing about recent days is it’s made a relatively new government look like the last lot. There are bigger, worse enemies – like Nigel Farage, who if we are not careful [is] going to come in and take over this country and take it to a very dark place.”
Campbell warned that everyone in public life “has a reputational bank, and the currency flows in and out”. He said: “Something has gone dreadfully wrong that so much has drained [in] just a little over a year in government.” A Labour peer told The Independent that Sir Keir was being “derailed” by some of the people around him, and called on him to sack McSweeney.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband claimed that Sir Keir would wish to sack the person responsible for the briefings that derailed the government this week. “I’ve talked to Keir before about this kind of briefing that happens. As he always says, if he finds the person, he’ll get rid of them, and I absolutely believe he would do that,” he told Sky News.
