‘It feels like nobody is in charge in No 10 any more’

Tax U-turn will only hasten Starmer's departure, MPs warn

- By DAVID MADDOX, POLITICAL EDITOR

The decision to rip up plans for the Budget has left Keir Starmer even further “weakened” and more likely to face an imminent bid to oust him, Labour MPs have claimed.

Ministers and backbenchers reacted with despair to news that plans to hike income tax had been abandoned, claiming that it showed “nobody is in charge” of the government.

The Independent has been told that supporters of health secretary Wes Streeting still want him to replace Sir Keir in a coronation to get the Labour government back on track. One MP said the U-turn made a coup more likely while a minister described the PM’s position as “weakened”.

It is being claimed that Downing Street overruled the Treasury over the planned income tax rise in a bid to buy Sir Keir time and see off an attempted coup.

But the move may have backfired again, with one senior minister complaining: “It has just added to the sense of directionlessness.” Another minister said: “It feels like nobody is in charge any more.”

Meanwhile, one minister despondently suggested that “the gilt markets are now in charge of the government.”

The decision on income tax was leaked to the Financial Times in the wake of a terrible week for Downing Street, where sources briefed that Sir Keir was prepared to fight an attempted plot to replace him by Mr Streeting.

Economists have warned that what appears to be a political decision will mean that the government will not be able to build up a sufficient buffer to protect the UK from more economic shocks, leaving it even more exposed.