‘You don’t cross Wes’: The real Streeting – by those who know him
In a divided Labour party, Wes Streeting is one of the great dividers.
Staffers who have worked for the former Health Secretary speak of the loyalty and admiration he inspires through his intelligence, hard work and compassion. “He’s personable, likeable and connects with people,” says one on the right of the party, “but there’s also that steel and determination within him.”
Those on the left see a different side. A former colleague from his days as a councillor acknowledges Streeting is “very bright” and “works exceptionally hard”, yet laments how “dismissive and negative” he can be towards people who backed Jeremy Corbyn – while ensuring “other people do his dirty work for him”.
Another ex-staffer sums up how he is viewed within Labour. “When I used to say, ‘I work for Wes,’ I got visceral hatred or overwhelming joy – one of the two.”
Supermarkets urged to limit food prices – what we know
Arsenal fans celebrate Premier League title – the story in pictures
What we know about Married at First Sight UK rape allegations
Will we see a heatwave this bank holiday weekend?
The average income of British retirees revealed
Government ‘urged supermarkets to limit food prices’
The Government “must focus on how it will reduce the public policy costs which are pushing up food prices”, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said after reports that the Treasury asked supermarkets to limit food prices in return for the lifting of some regulations.The proposals would see shops voluntarily cap the prices of essential groceries such as eggs, bread and milk, according to The Financial Times.
What you need to know
The Treasury has said it would, in return, offer supermarkets “incentives” that may include easing packaging policies and delaying potentially costly changes to healthy food rules, the newspaper said.
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What the BRC said
Rather than introduce 1970s style price controls and trying to force retailers to sell goods at a loss, the Government must focus on how it will reduce the public policy costs which are pushing up food prices in the first place. Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of the BRC
Rather than introduce 1970s style price controls and trying to force retailers to sell goods at a loss, the Government must focus on how it will reduce the public policy costs which are pushing up food prices in the first place.
How the Treasury responded
A spokesperson for the Treasury said: “The Chancellor has been clear we want to do more to help keep costs down for families, and will set out more detail in due course.” The Treasury asked supermarkets for guarantees that British farmers would not lose income from price caps. Some measures, including the packaging regulations, generate revenue for the Treasury, The Financial Times reported.
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A closer look at the detail
The Government has also recommended supermarkets reinvest the savings from the regulation changes to freeze grocery prices, it added.
This comes after UK food inflation rose to 3.7 per cent in April.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Tuesday told an aid summit of the risk of “sleepwalking into a global food crisis” as a result of Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Inflation falls to lowest level in a year – as energy prices offset Iran war
Arsenal fans rejoice at Premier League title win
Jubilant Arsenal fans have been celebrating in style after their club won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years.Supporters outside Emirates Stadium and nearby pub rejoiced after Manchester City drew 1-1 with Bournemouth – a result which handed Mikel Arteta’s side the title.
Gunners joy at title victory
Arsenal squad gathers to celebrate
The Arsenal squad rejoiced together at their training ground at the final whistle in Man City’s match, dancing and chanting: “Campeones, Campeones, Ole Ole Ole!” Captain Declan Rice posted a message on Instagram: “It’s done.”
One fan outside the Emirates said it was “the best day of my life.” Another Gunners supporter told the BBC: “I’ve got a can of lager from 2021 commemorating the 1971 double. I said I wasn’t drinking it until Arsenal won the league. It’s five years out of date, wish me luck.”
Club legend Ian Wright was spotted celebrating the title win with fans outside the stadium. Arsenal fan Keir Starmer posted on X that “we’re back where we belong. Champions!” Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, a fellow Gunners supporter, said it was “22 years in the making”. Formula 1 legend Lewis Hamilton added: “Come On You Gunners.”
Fans get to celebrate all over again when their team lifts the Premier League trophy after the Crystal Palace match on Sunday.
They are also now dreaming of a famous double, with Arsenal up against PSG in the Champions League final on 30 May.
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@theipaper Arsenal ended their 22-year wait to win the Premier League title on Tuesday when they were confirmed as champions following second-placed Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth. Leaders for almost the entire season, Mikel Arteta’s side are now four points clear with one game remaining, and Sunday’s clash at Crystal Palace will now be a coronation. #news #UK #football #arsenalfc ♬ original sound – The i Paper – The i Paper
Arsenal ended their 22-year wait to win the Premier League title on Tuesday when they were confirmed as champions following second-placed Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth. Leaders for almost the entire season, Mikel Arteta’s side are now four points clear with one game remaining, and Sunday’s clash at Crystal Palace will now be a coronation. #news #UK #football #arsenalfc
What we know about Married at First Sight UK rape allegations
Channel 4 has removed all seasons of Married at First Sight UK from its platforms following “very serious allegations” made against some former stars.Two women have alleged that they were raped during the filming of the show. A third has alleged a non-consensual sex act.
One woman alleged in a BBC Panorama programme that her chosen husband raped her and threatened her with an acid attack.
A second alleged that she was also raped by her husband. She also claims she told Channel 4 and independent producer CPL before broadcast, but the show still aired.
A third woman alleged that her onscreen husband engaged in a non-consensual sex act.
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How has Channel 4 responded?
Channel 4’s removal of the show from its platforms follows an external review launched in April into the welfare of participants. The broadcaster was presented with serious allegations “against a small number of past contributors, allegations that we understand those contributors have denied,” it said in a statement. The channel said “prompt and appropriate action was taken” related to concerns over welfare protocols.
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What do MPs say?
Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport committee, said the allegations were “deeply shocking”.
The Conservative MP said the premise of the show, which sees single people “marry” strangers who they meet on their mock wedding day, was “horrifying”.
Labour security minister Dan Jarvis said the allegations were “deeply concerning”.
Will we see a heatwave this bank holiday weekend?
Britons have been told to prepare for hot weather this bank holiday weekend, with some parts of the country set to see temperatures rise as high as 28°C.
Which areas could get a heatwave?
Temperatures could reach 28°C in the south-east of England on Friday, with conditions set to be mostly sunny and dry.
Some places could see a heatwave on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A heatwave is three days in a row with temperatures at a regional threshold.
Herefordshire and Worcestershire appear most likely to hit the threshold, say forecasters.
It’s not all good news: forecasters have warned that some parts of the country could see rain because of the humidity.
Some parts of Scotland, Wales and the west of England could see showers on Saturday. The south of England could get rain on Sunday.
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What’s causing warm spell?
Meteorologists said a change in the wind direction was behind the spike in temperatures ahead.Wind had been blowing from the north during last week’s cold snap. South-westerly winds from the Atlantic have dominated at the start of this week. And later in the week, the wind from the south will bring warmer weather.
The average British retiree falls short of moderate lifestyle
The typical pensioner in the UK does not have enough income to live comfortably, new research has found.
What does average pensioner live on?
This is how much the average tax-paying pensioner between 65 and 69 lives on.
This is according to an analysis of 2024 HMRC figures by AJ Bell.
This is how much the average tax-paying pensioner between 70 and 74 lives on.
This is according to an analysis of 2024 HMRC figures by AJ Bell.
What you need for moderate lifestyle
An individual pensioner needs £31,300 a year for a moderate standard of living, according to Retirement Living Standards research by Loughborough University.
A pensioner couple need £43,100 a year to live to a moderate standard, the Retirement Living Standards research discovered.
The good news and bad news
Average pensioner incomes fall “well short” of what the average Brit is hoping for, said Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell.
Women are even more stretched than men in retirement. Women aged 65 to 69 received an average of £23,000, while men received £29,600.
However, the standards are a “fairly blunt instrument”, said Coles, because they don’t take into account the income you are used to while you’re working.
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@theipaper The Parliamentary Standards watchdog has launched a probe into the £5m ‘gift’ from businessman Christopher Harborne to Nigel Farage in 2024. A Reform UK spokesman said: “Mr Farage’s office is in communications with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. He has always been clear that this was a personal, unconditional gift and no rules were broken. We look forward to this being put to bed once and for all.” nigelfarage reformuk ukpolitics ♬ original sound – The i Paper – The i Paper
The Parliamentary Standards watchdog has launched a probe into the £5m ‘gift’ from businessman Christopher Harborne to Nigel Farage in 2024. A Reform UK spokesman said: “Mr Farage’s office is in communications with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. He has always been clear that this was a personal, unconditional gift and no rules were broken. We look forward to this being put to bed once and for all.” nigelfarage reformuk ukpolitics
This may leave Streeting struggling to secure enough support within the Labour membership to win a party leadership election and claim No 10 – having resigned from Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet on Thursday, saying he had lost confidence in the Prime Minister.
He may even face a challenge holding onto his seat at the next general election. His majority in Ilford North in 2024 was only 528 votes, or 1.2 per cent – far smaller than any previous Prime Minister over the last century – and he has admitted he could be “toast”.
Does he have the backing within the party at local and national levels to overcome these difficulties and take control of Downing Street? The i Paper has spoken to people who have worked with him throughout his career to get a better sense of his strengths, weaknesses, and chances of success.
‘I thought he would go on to great things’
Streeting grew up in poverty, having been born in 1983 to an 18-year-old mother who upset her family by refusing to have an abortion. Although his father has always “been there” for him, his parents separated early.
By the time he was two years old, his mother was in a relationship with a “violent, controlling brute” who was eventually jailed for “terrible abuse” of her, Streeting wrote in his memoir One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up. He also recalled how “all the lights would go out, the TV screen would switch to black or the stereo would cut out mid-song” when the electricity meter for their council flat in Stepney often ran out of money.
The practising Anglican Christian received free school meals at his comprehensive in London’s Victoria, and recalls being “geeky, gobby” and “deeply unpopular“. In an interview in 2011, he recalled winning a book token and using it to buy a volume of Tony Blair’s speeches, admitting: “What sort of kid reads Tony Blair’s speeches on the bus?”
After studying history at Cambridge, he won election as president of the National Union of Students in 2008. Aaron Porter, who served under Streeting and succeeded him as union leader two years later, said they worked “very closely together” both in their office and travelling around the country to campaign against tuition fees.
“He was incredibly charismatic, a really good communicator, pretty driven,” says Porter, now chair of the private BPP University. “He was open in saying he would like a career in politics… I thought he would go on to great things.”
Streeting’s approach to politics, pragmatic even then, “focused on getting things done” rather than on purity of principles, Porter recalls. He wasn’t afraid to make difficult decisions about redundancies, says Porter, and was “willing to speak to those people face to face”, which earned him respect. “Although people disagreed with him, they rarely disliked him.”
There was a “work-hard, play-hard mentality” at the NUS and Streeting was “often the life and soul of the party”, Porter adds. “He was quite a raconteur, a storyteller, a joke-teller in the bars… He had an impressive ability to stay up late and get up early. I sometimes felt he delivered even better speeches when he’d had quite a late night.”
‘If you disagree with him, he can be ruthless’
In 2010, Streeting won a by-election to become a councillor in the East London borough of Redbridge. He served for five years, becoming deputy leader of the local authority.
One former colleague on the council cabinet, who asked to remain anonymous, says Streeting was “very ambitious” from the start and enjoyed support from major figures on the right of the party.
“From the moment he got elected, it was clear he was tipped for a senior role in politics,” says the former councillor. While canvassing for votes, “people like Lord Peter Mandelson turned up to support Wes… That doesn’t normally happen”.
Streeting has insisted he was “not a close friend” of Mandelson, releasing his WhatsApp messages with the disgraced former UK ambassador to the US in February for transparency amid the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
The former council colleague says Streeting is “one of the cleverest people I’ve met” and has “a lot of good points”, including being very effective at policy work.
Nevertheless, they claim he provoked “a lot of disillusionment” among local members on the left of the party after he became an MP in 2015 for Ilford North, a constituency in Redbridge, and began opposing Corbyn.
The source says Streeting is “much further to the right than the membership” on issues such as NHS use of private contractors and the war in Gaza. They were not surprised his support collapsed in 2024 following a strong campaign by independent candidate Leanne Mohamad, a British-Palestinian activist.
“If there was a unified campaign in Ilford North – well run, well targeted – I think Wes as prime minister would be in real trouble if he stayed,” they predict. Although there are “some members who really like him,” they believe “there is a real risk Wes would lose his seat”.
They add that he’s not afraid to use cold and calculating tactics. “You don’t cross Wes,” they say. “If you’re on Wes’s side, he is brilliant. If you disagree with him, he can be ruthless, but in a way that he makes sure it doesn’t bounce back onto him.”
‘His work ethic was pretty frightening’
Two former members of Streeting’s constituency and parliamentary teams, who also asked not to be named, starkly disagree with the council colleague’s depiction. They speak highly of him as a boss and believe he would be an effective national leader.
“He was a motivator, definitely,” says one. “He knew how to build and lead a good team and inspire a sense of purpose. He was relentlessly high energy, he was upbeat at all hours of the day and his work ethic was pretty frightening.”
He would “lead by example” and instilled a “really good culture of praise”, they add, rather than “ruling by diktat”.
A second agrees, saying he happily shares memes and online jokes with his juniors on WhatsApp. “He was deeply trusting of his team, who were very close knit,” they recall. “He doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean. He is deeply personable… He’s probably the most genuine politician I’ve ever worked for.” When meeting constituents, he is “ferocious” in wanting to help them.
As for the NHS, “he wants to get waiting lists down and he’s not afraid to use the private sector to do it”, they add. Having survived kidney cancer aged just 38, he has every reason to care about the health service.
During rumours of a coup against Starmer in November, Streeting was ridiculed for robotically repeating the same joke involving the BBC gameshow The Celebrity Traitors in six different interviews, saying that criticism of him by an unnamed No 10 source was “the most appalling attack on a faithful I’ve seen since Joe Marler was banished from the final”. But insiders say many MPs reuse their favourite lines for different audiences and believe communication is one of his strong points.
The second ex-staffer believes he’s picked the right moment to challenge Starmer. He would “be able to tell a story to people about what this government is for and how we’re improving your life, and he’d have the drive to get policy through that Keir sat on the fence with”.
They insist he would have the ability to unite the party, saying: “He’s very good at bringing people with him.”
Streeting would be the first openly gay Prime Minister, but has angered many in the trans community by extending the ban on puberty blockers for under-18s.
Accusations of transphobia “really upset him”, says the second former team member, but they accept he would have to overcome what they see as unfair misconceptions on the left “that he’s a rabid right-wing Blairite who hates trans people”.
Competition from Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner could be difficult for him, the first former office member admits. “Being a Londoner makes it more difficult to appeal to voters who might see Labour going down the metropolitan, urban-based route.”
They hope he succeeds, however. “He’s the right person to lead the country.”