Keir Starmer tells cabinet he is not resigning

Keir Starmer’s statement to cabinet this morning (see 9.48am) was carefully worded.

At the weekend Starmer gave an interview to the Observer that resulted in the paper reporting that he wanted 10 more years in No 10. That was subsequently viewed as a mistake, reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher saying she would “go on and on” and Boris Johnson saying he was planning for his third term in office. These were moments of hubris that alarmed even the leaders’ supporters, reports The Guardian.

In his statement Starmer does not say he definitely intends to stay on until the next election. He refers to the argument he made in his speech yesterday about instability being bad for the country and he refers to the fact that no one has triggered a leadership contest. But he does not even say how he would respond to such a challenge, and so – although he indicates that he is staying on – he leaves open the possibility that, if there is a challenge, he might announce plans to resign.

What Starmer is doing, though, is throwing down a challenge, and it is aimed at one minister in particular; he’s telling Wes Streeting: “Have a go if you’re hard enough.”

Streeting may be the the only person in cabinet capable of getting the 81 names needed to launch a leadership challenge. Until now, he has said that he won’t challenge Starmer, but he has been acting as if he has been expecting others to make that contest happen.

Now, it seems, if Streeting wants a contest, he is going to have to trigger it himself.