I always thought Wes Streeting was decent, committed to his job and had integrity. He seemed loyal to Keir Starmer, the man who elevated him from the backbenches, where he had languished for 5 years when Jeremy Corbyn was leader. When Starmer took over in 2020 he promoted Streeting into the Shadow Cabinet with a series of roles:
- Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (April 2020);
- Shadow Minister for Schools (October 2020);
- Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty (May 2021);
- Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (November 2021).
Starmer also gave him high profile media slots and made him Secretary of State for Health and Social Care after the landslide, so he had real clout.
But within two years Streeting had shafted the man solely responsible for his advancement; coldly stabbing him in the back. He seems unrecognisable now. Brash, arrogant, flagrantly egotistical, he strikes me as nakedly ambitious and ravenous for power. He's also adopted a public speaking style that's reminiscent of American far right 'Christian' influencers who talk non-stop and very aggressively, not letting anyone get a word in edgeways. It's all about power and control.
In and of itself power isn't a guaranteed corrupting force. It hasn't corrupted Keir Starmer, Gordon Brown, Barack Obama, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mark Carney and most European leaders. It corrupts the corruptible. And Wes Streeting seems vulnerable in that regard. I don't have any doubt now that he has zero loyalty to anyone and will seize the earliest opportunity to muscle his way into Number 10, just as Andy Burnham did.
Streeting says in the video, "I've got a good friend in John Healey," but I doubt Healey trusts him. Or Burnham for that matter. Those two are tied at the hip but Streeting isn't part of their tight, cosy circle. Burnham only gave him a position in his Cabinet under duress. Streeting held out the threat of a contest until he got what he wanted. It's beautifully illustrated in the welcome Healey and Streeting got from Burnham as PM.
And I'm sure it wasn't by chance that Ed Miliband, Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner, Louise Haigh, Lucy Powell all came before Streeting. So did Healey, who was first.
There is a lot of heat on him at the moment, Twitter alive with media and individual calls for his resignation, many saying he's finished as Chancellor because his reason for resigning from Keir Starmer's government has proven to be bogus. I'm not so sure his time is over yet. He accepted the post of Chancellor after Burnham as PM said he wouldn't pledge the 3% defense spending by 2030. So who's going to hold him to account or force his resignation? Burnham? He can't. He'd go down as well.
At the moment, Labour MPs seem afraid to challenge either of them, for fear of weakening Labour. It's an awful position to be in, and I imagine there's brewing discontent, but I don't think it's anywhere close to gaining enough momentum to force Healey's resignation.
There is someone who could cause trouble for them both, though. Wes Streeting. Yes, he has a runaway mouth and an out-of-control ego, and he's so bereft of integrity that he genuinely doesn't think he did anything wrong in shafting Keir Starmer, but that's exactly my point. When he said to Camilla Tominey, prior to the above clip, that he would resign if Defense spending didn't come up to scratch, he made it sound like he was defending Healey and Burnham. But make no mistake; he was also letting them know that he'll resign and challenge the Prime Minister if they step out of line. Whatever his line is.
