huffingtonpost - 26 days ago

Health secretary Wes Streeting has warned there is an overt racism in the UK right now.Wes Streeting brushed off suggestions he wanted to oust Keir Starmer as prime minister today when speaking to LBC – but added in a quick quip while he was at it.It comes after multiple reports citing senior Labour sources claimed this week that the health secretary was thought to be on manoeuvres and looking to oust the prime minister – while No.10 officials insisted Starmer would not be going anywhere anytime soon.Streeting instantly denied the reports, accusing senior figures of trying to “kneecap” him and claimed there was a “toxic culture” within No.10.Starmer later apologised to his cabinet minister over the phone, and insisted he has never authorised any attacks on his ministers.Speaking on an LBC phone-in on Friday morning, the health secretary seemed to suggest everything was well between him and his boss.He claimed he and Starmer are still in the “same boat” over the leadership row, joking: “The season finale of the Traitors is over.“I think the prime minister and I are both in the same boat here of being extremely frustrated because this is a total distraction.”Streeting also said he had confidence in Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who has been criticised amid the row.When asked if he wanted to be prime minister “one day”, Streeting said: “I’m very happy to be doing the job I’m currently doing.”LBC presenter Nick Ferrari then pointed to a clip from 2018 when Streeting – then a backbencher – predicted that he would be prime minister within a decade.He smiled, and replied: “It will be my sense of humour that will ultimately do for me one day.“But If you don’t back yourself, who will? That’s my advice to the kids in my constituency.”‘Do you want to be Prime Minister one day?’
‘I’m happy with my job.’
‘Are you sure?’
@NickFerrariLBC takes @wesstreeting down memory lane with a video from 2018… pic.twitter.com/DvUATlps1F LBC (@LBC) November 14, 2025Streeting also spoke out about the way the union jack has become a source of tension in the UK.“We normally fly our flag in moments of national celebration,” he said, adding that he was “proud” of it.“It does get hijacked by racists from time to time and I think our response to that should be to reclaim it,” he continued.“I think we’ve got a level of racism, overt racism, in this country, a kind we haven’t seen for years.“I’ve been an elected councillor or MP for the last 15 years. I have not had racism come up in my constituency as often as it has in recent weeks.“People not just saying, ‘I’m really worried about racism,’ people describing being abused, spat at, shoved, giving racist abuse.“I think we’ve got a sort of 70s, 80s, style racism which has emerged and we’ve got to put it back in its box. “The government’s got a role to play, but all of us have got a role to play.”Related...Keir Starmer Says We Will Never Surrender Union Flag To Far-Right ThugsWes Streeting Just Compared Nigel Farage To Brad Pitt – And Not In A Good WayKeir Starmer Believes No One In No.10 Briefed Against Wes Streeting – Despite Apologising For The Briefings Against Him

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