Henry Zeffman: Starmer fights back for now

Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough. Boil it down and that's what Sir Keir Starmer said to the cabinet today, at the start of what was - let's remember - just its standard weekly scheduled meeting. The prime minister's message was spoken to a full meeting of 28 cabinet ministers. But it was directed at one person present: Wes Streeting, the health secretary. Streeting has been clear with the prime minister for months that he is ready for a leadership contest should one take place. But he has also been adamant that he would not be the person to trigger one. As of first thing this morning, that remained his plan. Then the prime minister made his bold gambit, taking refuge in Labour Party rules. The Conservative system for displacing a leader, with which we all became so familiar in recent years, operates on the basis of whether MPs do or do not retain confidence in their boss. The Labour system is different. For Sir Keir to be dislodged, 81 MPs would have to back a specific opponent to face off against him. There are clearly well north of 81 Labour MPs who want the prime minister out. But the prime minister is cannily exploiting the divisions among them. Some want a sl