Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who resigned last week, has delivered a stark warning to the Labour Party, saying it must deliver real change or risk handing power to Reform UK. In his first Commons speech since quitting the cabinet, Streeting argued that the government is 'currently losing' the fight against populist nationalism.
Streeting stopped short of directly criticising Prime Minister Keir Starmer, praising him for keeping the UK out of the US-Israel war against Iran. However, he said the government had been too cautious and had allowed parties like Reform to hijack patriotism. 'Unless we change course, we risk handing the keys of No 10 to Reform,' he told MPs.
He also reiterated his view that leaving the EU had been a damaging mistake, particularly in a world dominated by an unpredictable US, a rising China, and a failed Russia. Streeting argued that young people had been let down by a broken social contract, leaving them unable to afford homes and at risk from AI.
Streeting resigned last week and called on Starmer to quit, but failed to secure enough support for a formal leadership challenge. In his speech, he emphasised that patriotism should not be left to the loudest voices, and that division is 'the oldest trick in politics'.
