This week has seen the unity and comradery that won Labour the general election back in July 2024 disperse and vanish amongst the cabinet.
The Starmer administration, still early in its tenure, has spent months projecting calm competence and technocratic focus. Yet three separate episodes, a retreat on a flagship welfare signal, whispers of discontent ricocheting out of Downing Street, and a bruising performance by the Justice Secretary, converged to raise a more uncomfortable question: is Labour’s smooth facade beginning to crack?
Budget controversies
The first fracture emerged around the government’s stance on the two-child benefit limit, a policy long criticised by anti-poverty campaigners and once expected to be scrapped under Labour. Throughout opposition, senior figures made no secret of their discomfort with the cap, framing it as emblematic of the previous government’s harshness. Hopes of its abolition were stoked again earlier this year, with murmurs from within Whitehall hinting at a decisive shift in the Autumn Budget.
But in recent days, those expectations have evaporated. Officials now speak of “fiscal realism” and “tough choices,” signalling that the cap may remain in place for the foreseeable future. The retreat is subtle, not yet codified in policy papers, yet unmistakable in tone. For a party that promised moral clarity on child poverty, the back-pedal is politically awkward. For its critics, it confirms a worrying pattern: manifesto warmth dissolving into governmental coldness.
The last few weeks have seen a series of disastrous interviews for the Chancellor. It seems the Treasury under Rachel Reeves may be readying the nation for backtracking on promises made during the general election campaign last Spring. If income taxes and national insurance rates are capped in this upcoming Autumn Budget, Starmer and his wider Cabinet may be faced with further opposition both in parliament and from the wider public.
The return of a ‘toxic culture’
This brewing policy controversy might have remained manageable were it not for a second, more corrosive problem: the return of internal Labour briefings, the very phenomenon Starmer vowed to extinguish. Reports emerged this week alleging that unnamed figures in No 10 had circulated suggestions of a possible challenge to the Prime Minister’s leadership, with the Health Secretary Wes Streeting bizarrely cast as the supposed pretender.
Streeting publicly dismissed the claims, calling them “self-defeating nonsense,” yet the damage was done. Even the rumour of a plot, however fanciful, painted a portrait of a government not entirely in control of itself. Downing Street denied orchestrating any such briefings, but MPs privately spoke of a “toxic atmosphere” and a communications team riven by mistrust. For a leader who built his brand on orderliness and internal discipline, the episode was more than a distraction; it was a reminder that the Labour Party’s old instincts have not entirely been subdued.
Poor Commons performances
At PMQs on Wednesday [12th November], Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch delivered a string of blows against the Prime Minister, questioning his control over his party and the stability of the Labour Cabinet to deliver on the upcoming Budget. Keen observers noted the unusual win for the Conservatives, topping off a tough morning for Starmer.
A more visible embarrassment however has damaged Labour’s polling rates and public standing more. Last week [5th November] Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, standing in for the Prime Minster at PMQs, faced a barrage over the mistaken release of prisoners, an issue already sensitive amid wider concerns about capacity and oversight in the criminal justice system.
Lammy, normally one of Labour’s more assured performers, struggled to defend the department’s handling of the incident. Repeated questions met evasive answers; frustration flashed; the chamber sensed It.
By the time he left the despatch box, the damage was less about the specifics and more about perception: a senior minister appearing rattled under pressure at precisely the moment the government needed a display of competence.
Starmer’s challenge
Individually, each episode could be shrugged off. Policy shifts are part of governing, Westminster whispers are a natural part of the political landscape, and even seasoned ministers have difficult days. Together though they paint a more troubling portrait of a government struggling to maintain the momentum and stability it promised at the election. The retreat on welfare highlights the fiscal pressures weighing on Labour’s agenda, the briefing row points to unresolved tensions inside Number 10, and Lammy’s misstep shows how quickly ministerial confidence can unravel under scrutiny.
None of these amounts to a crisis yet, but it does underline how incomplete Labour’s transition from opposition to government remains. Starmer now faces the task of reasserting the narrative that carried him to power, one of competence, clarity, and control, at precisely the moment it has begun to wobble. Whether this week proves a blip or the first sign of deeper difficulties will depend on how swiftly, and how assuredly, his government can regain its footing.
Featured image via House of Commons / Flickr.
