Lammy on Sky: “No Timetable”; Time for Labour to Get “Back on the Pitch”
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said on Monday morning that “there will be no timetable for departure” for the Prime Minister, and went on to tell the BBC that it was time for the Labour Party to “get back on the pitch after days of introspection and infighting”. Lammy added that he had spoken to the Prime Minister twice on Sunday. The intervention served as the coordinated Number 10 opening line, which Starmer himself confirmed in broadcast interviews later in the day.
Lammy is one of the cabinet ministers who would be at greatest risk of losing his post under either a Burnham or a Streeting leadership, which gives the public denial a partisan flavour. The Lammy line is consistent with Lisa Nandy’s Sunday morning intervention on BBC Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg dismissing the leadership talk as “froth and nonsense”. Five ministers resigned over Sir Keir’s leadership in the wake of the 7 May local election losses; the daily reporting since has been dominated by Burnham’s Makerfield path, Wes Streeting’s leadership declaration, and the Catherine West stalking-horse motion. The fact that the cabinet has now coalesced behind the Prime Minister, at least publicly, is itself the most significant single political development of the day — and is what the Financial Times credits for the partial gilts stabilisation.