Daily Politics from the New Statesman

Wes Streeting denied plotting to oust Keir Starmer.

Ailbhe Rea met the Health Secretary to learn what he's really thinking.

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Ailbhe writes:

Labour is in danger of presenting itself as the “maintenance department for the country”, he says. “The problem with that kind of practical, technocratic approach is that if someone else comes along and says, ‘Well, I’ve got a maintenance company too, and mine’s cheaper,’ why wouldn’t people go, ‘OK, well, we’ll give that maintenance team a try’?” He doesn’t name Starmer, but the critique of the Prime Minister’s “practical, technocratic” leadership is clear.

Streeting has denied plotting against the Labour leader. But when we speak, he strikes me as someone planning for what may lie ahead. I meet a cabinet minister ranging beyond his brief, thinking seriously about what his party needs to do to win the next election – and beginning to outline an alternative to that “maintenance department” approach.

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Ailbhe Rea joins Anoosh Chakelian on Daily Politics from the New Statesman to discuss her interview with Wes Streeting, including the behind-the-scenes parts she couldn't reveal in her article.

📚 READ

Wes Streeting: "I'm pretty frustrated, to be honest"

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2025/12/wes-streeting-im-pretty-frustrated

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If you are raped in London today, you could be waiting until 2030 for a trial. 

Justice secretary David Lammy has stated that 60 per cent of rape victims drop their cases whilst waiting for the trial. Rape Crisis estimates 1 in 6 women go to the police.

Oli Dugmore is joined by Labour MP Natalie Fleet, who has written for the New Statesman on the fight for justice for victims of rape.

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Why does the Reform leader spend so much time in the US? Freddie Hayward has been speaking to him to find out.

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Winston Churchill had an American mother. Boris Johnson was a dual citizen. But if Nigel Farage makes it to Downing Street, he’ll have closer ties to the US than any other British PM.  

That’s the argument of our correspondent Freddie Hayward, who joins Oli Dugmore on Daily Politics.

He's been speaking to Farage and the MAGA figures he calls friends to find out how the Reform leader hopes to bring Trump tactics to British politics - and rekindle the most "special" of relationships.

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Keir Starmer described Green party policy as “nuts” and “dangerous” in an interview with the Observer yesterday. But is he underestimating one of Labour’s biggest threats?

And is Starmer alienating a generation of young voters who might run into the arms of Zack Polanski?

Rachel Cunliffe is joined by George Eaton and Will Dunn.

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As the UK grapples with cost of living pressures, geopolitical shocks and a shifting political landscape, the case for net zero remains strong - but the story around it seems to have stalled.

How can policymakers, businesses and campaigners reconnect climate action with public priorities such as jobs, growth, energy security and household bills?

In this episode host Jon Bernstein is joined by Benj Sykes, UK Country Manager at Ørsted, Polly Billington, Labour MP and founder of Climate 100, and Daisy Powell-Chandler, Head of Energy and Environment at Public First, to examine the state of the UK’s net zero consensus and what’s really driving public attitudes.

Their discussion looks at why Westminster debate has become more polarised even as public concern about climate change remains high; whether the language of “net zero” helps or hinders; and how to tell a more compelling, place-based story about the energy transition - from local jobs and warmer homes to cleaner transport and revitalised town centres.

The panel also explores how to balance upfront investment with cost of living pressures, the case for an energy social tariff, and why decarbonisation should be framed as a national security priority that reduces exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets and future energy price shocks.

This New Statesman podcast episode is sponsored by Ørsted.

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