Defiant Keir Starmer issues rallying cry for Cabinet to deliver for voters – and reveals No10 shake-up
SIR Keir Starmer has issued a rallying cry to his top team after a bumpy start – telling them it’s time to deliver.
The Prime Minister assembled his Cabinet troops for a bonding “away day” where he gave a pep talk for them to crack on with voters’ priorities.
He also revealed plans to carve up the Number 10 operation following a chaotic spell in which he was forced to sack chief-of-staff Sue Gray.
He told colleagues: “We are going to do this. We are going to be the government that delivers the innovation and reform our country needs so we can deliver the change the country voted for at the general election.”
The PM wants to harness “game-changing” innovation akin to ex-Labour PM Harold Wilson’s famous push to embrace the “white heat of technology”.
Downing Street will be broken up into two “pillars” – one focused on delivery and innovation and the other on national and international security.
Cabinet Ministers attended sessions in Whitehall by Science Minister Lord Patrick Vallance and DeepMind’s Nobel Prize-winning founder Demis Hassabis about the importance of tech.
They also had breakout discussions on “delivering change”, the upcoming spending review of departmental budgets and reform to public services like the NHS and transport.
Donald Trump’s victory in America is understood to have focused minds in No10 on the importance of getting results on the economy and immigration.
Downing Street is going to begin tracking progress on each of its five “missions” and making it public for voters to judge.
Labour’s first four months in office have seen rows over freebies, Taylor Swift, and No10 infighting.
Sir Keir’s popularity ratings have tumbled to -38, which is even lower than Rishi Sunak’s when he lost the election.
He has consistently promised a “decade of national renewal” that involved “fixing the foundations”.