Once you lose your reputation for honesty, it’s very hard to get it back. Keir Starmer may have lost his, in the House of Commons this lunchtime. He was asked by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch about reports that Number 10 officials had been sticking the knife into Health Secretary Wes Streeting. They feared that Mr Streeting was about to launch a leadership bid, and seemed to think that publicly attacking the Health Secretary was the best way to dissuade him.
Sir Keir denied it all. He insisted: “Of course I have never authorised attacks on Cabinet members.” And he claimed: “This is a united team.” Well, the second bit is clearly not true. They are not united. There are plenty of people in the Labour Party – including in the Government – who are furious at the way Mr Streeting has been treated.
But it’s also difficult to believe his first comment. In fact, Mrs Badenoch was spot on when she retorted: “He says these attacks aren’t authorised. That means he’s lost control of Number 10, because that’s where they’re from.”
There’s no answer to that. Either people in the Downing Street operation have gone rogue – in which case Sir Keir surely needs to sack them – or they are doing their master’s bidding.
Even if Sir Keir didn’t directly authorise the attacks on Mr Streeting, if he fails to stamp down on them then that can only mean he approves.
But despite the chaos they have caused, there is a chance that these Number 10 briefings will achieve their goal. Because if Mr Streeting ever does hope to become leader, this may be his best chance.
Under Labour rules, if he can persuade 80 Labour MPs to nominate him then there could indeed be a leadership election. If he doesn’t act, it will look a little as if he’s “bottled it”, as the saying goes at Westminster.
However, there’s no doubt that Sir Keir has further damaged his own reputation.
His MPs think he’s a bit of a bully, and believe he previously set out to damage Labour colleagues such as Lisa Nandy, Angela Rayner and Bridget Phillipson. Or, if Sir Keir didn’t do it himself, he let his advisers do it, which is really the same thing.
The difference is that in the past, Number 10 aides stuck the knife into Cabinet Ministers and got away with it. This time, Mr Streeting stuck the knife right back, leaving Downing Street in turmoil.
Labour MPs don’t like Keir Starmer. Now they are going to think they can’t believe him either.