Labour in Turmoil: Ministers Turn on Downing Street Amid Chaos and Infighting

[Social Media]

 

The discontent within Labour’s government has reached a boiling point. One frustrated minister summed up the mood, saying, “To be honest, we’re all sick of Downing Street. No 10 is constantly trying to blame everyone else for the Government’s failings. It’s time they started looking closer to home.”  

 

Tensions between Sir Keir Starmer and his Cabinet have been growing for months, with ministers increasingly disillusioned by what they see as disorganized leadership. That frustration has now exploded, driven by a series of damaging briefings against senior Cabinet members, which sources claim were sanctioned at the highest levels.  

 

But No 10’s attempts at internal maneuvering have only fueled further resentment. “The problem No 10 has is that they’re rubbish at it,” one minister revealed. “I know exactly who’s been briefing against me and to whom. Their fingerprints are all over it.”  

 

The breakdown in trust is so severe that some ministers have started deliberately withholding information from Starmer’s aides. “We’ve decided we’re just going to have to cut them out,” one admitted. “We can’t trust them. If we bring them in too early, they try to sabotage what we’re doing.”  

 

Adding to the frustration is the growing perception that Downing Street’s decision-making is painfully slow and dysfunctional. “It’s really, really hard to get a decision out of there,” one minister complained. Another recalled being berated by No 10 for failing to inform them about a policy decision, only to remind them that it had been signed off two weeks earlier.

 

There is also growing alarm over the government’s economic messaging. The leadership’s abrupt shift from prioritizing investment and public services to an almost singular focus on growth has left many ministers confused and concerned. “They understand they talked down the economy too much,” a minister explained. “But now they’re trying to just talk the economy back to growth. Well, that’s fine. But it wasn’t what we were told the strategy was.”  

 

Inside No 10, there is reportedly “terror” over the upcoming Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) growth forecasts. In an attempt to soften the impact of the expected bad news, ministers have been ordered to come up with new policies to fill the headlines. “We’ve been told to come up with things to pack the grid for March,” one government official admitted. “They want to try to bury the OBR figures. They’re that terrible.”  

 

The final straw for many ministers has been the brutal spending cuts being proposed in the Government Spending Review. With Rachel Reeves’s fiscal headroom rapidly shrinking, departments are being asked to make cuts that some ministers believe are simply unworkable. “I just haven’t got the scope in my budget,” one minister protested. “What the Treasury and No 10 are asking for is impossible. The deficit I inherited from the Tories was already massive. I can’t implement the cuts they want without everything just collapsing.”  

 

Much of the blame is being directed at Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who has been tasked with identifying where the axe will fall. One minister was blunt in their assessment: “He’s a disaster. He doesn’t really understand what he’s doing. He finds it hard to even grasp basic figures.” A senior government official went even further, calling him “a very strange man” who shows “no empathy” when confronted with the real-world consequences of his proposals.  

 

While most Cabinet members are worried about the real-world effects of these cuts on public services, they are equally alarmed by the political fallout. “We’re about to commit electoral suicide,” one minister warned. “The reaction to the winter fuel cut was terrible. Well, this is going to set off carnage inside the party. People backed us because they thought we’d improve public services, not slash them further.” Another predicted disaster at the ballot box: “The local elections will be a bloodbath. Farage is going to run riot.”  

 

Discontent within government is not uncommon, especially when budgets are tight. But the sheer scale of anger towards Starmer’s leadership so early in his tenure is remarkable. Many had hoped that the departure of Starmer’s former chief of staff, Sue Gray, and the arrival of Morgan McSweeney would stabilize Downing Street. But those hopes have been dashed. “Everyone who thought Sue was the problem has been given a nasty shock,” a minister admitted.  

 

The deeper issue is Labour’s shifting economic strategy. Ministers believed they had a solid, if difficult, approach: protecting public services, blaming the Tories for financial mismanagement, and justifying necessary tax increases. But the pivot to prioritizing growth has upended that framework—just as the OBR is set to announce grim economic forecasts.  

 

Some Tories believe the government is merely managing expectations. “We don’t think the OBR figures will be quite as bad as people are expecting,” one Conservative strategist suggested. “That will allow Reeves to say, ‘It’s hurting, but there are signs it’s working.’”  

 

But Labour ministers aren’t convinced. “No 10 aren’t that clever,” one argued. “This isn’t expectation management. The OBR figures are going to be bad. And when we see them, the blame will lie in Downing Street.”  

 

The patience of the Cabinet has run out. Starmer’s government is on the brink of open conflict, and Labour’s internal war is about to begin.

 

Based on a report by Daily Mail  2025-02-17

 

 

[Theforgotten1]

They know the public is against them , now the MPs are looking at damage control, blaming others in their party , I was the good one bs

[Thingamabob]

Love them or loathe them, voters have given them  a huge majority. Starmer and co will be in power for 4 years plus. 

[Bday Prang]

10 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

Love them or loathe them, voters have given them  a huge majority. Starmer and co will be in power for 4 years plus. 

4 years maybe, but definitely no "plus"

[blaze master]

Didn't they just get elected ?

[JonnyF]

Britain has made a terrible mistake allowing this shower to come to power. 

 

The problem is that if Starmer goes we could end up with Rayner or Lammy. We can only hope they do not do too much damage before they are removed at the next election. 

 

Sad times for Britain. 

[Surasak]

24 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

Love them or loathe them, voters have given them  a huge majority. Starmer and co will be in power for 4 years plus. 

I wouldn't bank on that. There are ways to get them out, but they are not easy and the British public are not as easily roused as the French.

[Zaphod Priest]

Another partisan report from the Daily Fail (as it's know to Private Eye readers).  Total waste of Internet electrons.

[norfolkandchance]

I'm waiting for the Guardian readers to wad in.

[248900_1469958220]

I think the UK could use some more muslims. 

[connda]

Sanction Russia and put 70% of the UK military boot-on-the-ground in Ukraine - that will fix all of the UK's problems.

[connda]

57 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Britain has made a terrible mistake allowing this shower to come to power. 

 

The problem is that if Starmer goes we could end up with Rayner or Lammy. We can only hope they do not do too much damage before they are removed at the next election. 

 

Sad times for Britain. 

All of the leadership, current and potential, are just figureheads running fundamentally broken systems.  Same in the EU.  And then when their voters threaten to clean house, they are all labelled as "extremists" whose parties must be disbanded in order to "save our democracy." 

Torches and pitchforks to come?

[Thingamabob]

2 hours ago, Surasak said:

I wouldn't bank on that. There are ways to get them out, but they are not easy and the British public are not as easily roused as the French.

That's why I said what I said.

[Thingamabob]

2 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

4 years maybe, but definitely no "plus"

..plus 4 months if Labour go full term.

[Zaphod Priest]

2 hours ago, norfolkandchance said:

I'm waiting for the Guardian readers to wad in.

I already did.

[Kinnock]

2 hours ago, connda said:

Sanction Russia and put 70% of the UK military boot-on-the-ground in Ukraine - that will fix all of the UK's problems.

Yes .... they need a war to distract the public from the miserable performance of the last two governments, and they are heading that direction.

[Bday Prang]

5 hours ago, Zaphod Priest said:

Another partisan report from the Daily Fail (as it's know to Private Eye readers).  Total waste of Internet electrons.

Is that both "private eye" readers or just one of them

[Red Forever]

22 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

Is that both "private eye" readers or just one of them

Private Eye has a circulation of 250,000.

It is the only publication that holds government of all shades to account. I invite far right posters, who call it a lefty rag, to peruse the “Rotten Boroughs “ page. I doubt that it will change your minds but it might shut you up.

[Bday Prang]

i have read it in the past, absolute rubbish

[roquefort]

“I just haven’t got the scope in my budget,” one minister protested. “What the Treasury and No 10 are asking for is impossible.

 

Just wait till DOGE comes for you, mate.

[5davidhen1]

6 minutes ago, roquefort said:

“I just haven’t got the scope in my budget,” one minister protested. “What the Treasury and No 10 are asking for is impossible.

 

Just wait till DOGE comes for you, mate.

Please forgive my ignorance but, what or who is DOGE?

[roquefort]

1 hour ago, 5davidhen1 said:

Please forgive my ignorance but, what or who is DOGE?

Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk in the US. Tasked with reducing out-of-control government spending.

[Yellowtail]

10 hours ago, Surasak said:

I wouldn't bank on that. There are ways to get them out, but they are not easy and the British public are not as easily roused as the French.

Seems like they might be a gittin' there...