Wes Streeting urges Labour to help youth ‘as an emergency’
Wes Streeting has called on the government to support young people “as an emergency” in a resignation speech that accused Sir Keir Starmer of leading a losing battle against Reform UK.
Streeting said he supported Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ economic agenda before the Iran war broke out and upended policy-making, though he suggested the Labour leadership was losing in a battle with Reform UK.
“I left the government because we are in the fight of our lives against nationalism, and it is a fight that we are currently losing,” Streeting said.
“Unless we change course, we risk handing the keys of No 10 to Reform.”
About Reeves, he said: “She has been delivering the fastest growing economy in the G7, falling inflation and lower interest rates. Her hard work, undermined by the consequences of a war we did not choose.”
But touching on youth unemployment reaching an 11-year and polling suggesting that half of young people would not fight for the country, he said that the government had to rebalance intergenerational divides over areas such as housing affordability and student loans.
Sreeting said: “Patriotism isn’t a lecture the old deliver to the young, it’s a relationship. And for generations, Britain understood that relationship as a social contract.
“You work hard, you play by the rules, you contribute to society, and in return you can build a decent life, a secure job, a home of your own, a family if you want one, and the hope and conviction that your children will do better than you did.
“The question isn’t whether young people would fight for their country, but when their country is going to fight for them.”
He added: “That’s our job now…to tackle the crisis facing the next generation as an emergency, with the urgency that the moment requires.”
The speech did not explain why he resigned as health secretary in full, with the post being taken up by James Murray, and avoided mentioning the Prime Minister directly.
In the House of Commons, Streeting was surrounded by several MPs who appear to be his allies, including former Home Office minister Jess Phillips.
He echoed Starmer in suggesting that Andy Burnham’s by-election contest in Makerfield was a “fight for the soul of the country”.
Streeting makes pitch for Labour
Starmer’s political woes come at an uncertain time for the UK economy, with gilt yields rising rapidly due to instability and leadership speculation in Westminster and inflation risks from the Iran war.
This two-week rise has pushed up government borrowing costs by billions of pounds.
Starmer’s spokesman declined to confirm whether the Prime Minister would travel to Greater Manchester to campaign for Burnham, who could next eye a direct leadership contest if he wins next month’s by-election.
Earlier in Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer joked about Burnham’s potential leadership bid by talking about Arsenal’s Premier League victory and Pep Guardiola’s expected resignation as Manchester City’s manager.
“It would not be remiss to comment on one of Manchester’s great heroes moving on after almost a decade,” he said.
“Let me congratulate Pep Guardiola on all his success at Manchester City.”
He then congratulated his club for winning the league.