Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has launched a blistering attack on his own Cabinet colleagues, accusing them of undermining the government by leaking information and gossiping about the Prime Minister and Chancellor.
Lammy's stern warning to colleagues
In a remarkably frank intervention, the Justice Secretary expressed his profound disappointment with the culture of leaks plaguing the new administration. Speaking on The News Agents podcast on Wednesday, 3rd December 2025, Lammy issued a direct plea to ministers who have been "having a drink and b*tching about" Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to the press.
"Stop it. It doesn't help," Lammy stated emphatically. "It doesn't help the business of getting on with governing. Feeling cosy with journalists and having a drink and b*tching about colleagues is not conducive to getting on with the business of serving the people of this country."
The source of the Cabinet rift
The Deputy PM's outburst follows significant internal tension over the government's handling of the public finances. Ministers have privately accused the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of misleading the Cabinet about a black hole in the budget. One unnamed Cabinet minister told The Times that "the handling of this budget has been a disaster from start to finish".
This internal briefing war was seized upon by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch during Prime Minister's Questions. Badenoch ridiculed the government frontbench, pointedly asking which ministers had been briefing against their own team.
Personal and policy fallout from the leaks
Lammy revealed that the leaks have had a direct impact on his own department's work. He confirmed that his sensitive plans to reform the jury trial system were leaked to the press over a week before their official release.
The initial proposals, which suggested scrapping jury trials for offences likely to receive a sentence of less than five years, faced a major backlash. Lammy later announced a revised plan with a lower threshold of three years. "I have been really disappointed with some of the leaks that we've experienced in government," he said. "Government feels very leaky. And indeed, my jury decision and the determinations that we're making collectively were leaked. That’s not government working at its best."
Concluding his remarks, Lammy made his personal disdain for such behaviour clear: "So I can't stand it. I don't do it myself. And it's deeply counterproductive. I’ve never liked in-fighting amongst politicians and within political parties, and I don't think the public like it."
