Downing Street has insisted that the Prime Minister’s influential chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, is “not going anywhere” — despite growing calls for his dismissal over the welfare fiasco.
Keir Starmer is now fighting to maintain control after being forced into a major U-turn, drastically scaling back proposed benefits cuts.
Rebel Labour MPs blame Mr McSweeney for the row and had demanded the PM sack the senior aide as part of a “regime change” in No10.
One rumour circulating among a small and well connected group of Labour figures suggested Mr McSweeney was fed up with No10 and wanted to leave.
He was planning to return to Labour HQ to lead the party’s campaigns and elections team - heading up the fight to beat Reform in 2029, according to a source close to No10.
But last night Downing Street insisted the PM’s Svengali is going nowhere.
A No10 source said: “Tittle tattle about a change to chief of staff is uninformed nonsense.
“He isn’t going anywhere.”
Ministers are confident they will get their benefits legislation over the line on Tuesday after 126 Labour MPs tried to derail plans.
But they are braced for a significant rebellion with lefty MPs plotting a fresh bid to try and kill the bill.
“It’s a mutinous atmosphere,” one Labour MP said. “There could be 70 of us still against this legislation.”
One Government insider said: “MPs are furious because they feel like they weren’t being listened to. The question is, can No10 put that anger back in the box?”
The climbdown over benefits and a U-turn on winter fuel means Chancellor Rachel Reeves must find £4.5billion.
A Labour MP fumed: “We can’t keep making these U-turns every time we make a big decision. It’s so expensive.”
Diane Abbott said Sir Keir should be more like Tony Blair and take the left seriously.
In a sign of more rows to come, she told BBC Radio 4: “Starmer and his people thought they could dismiss Labour MPs, well they know differently now.”
In a speech to Welsh Labour on Saturday the PM said fixing the “broken” welfare system must be done in a “Labour way”.
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