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Keir Starmer Slaps Down Wes Streeting After Health Secretary Releases Mandelson Messages

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Keir Starmer has slapped down Wes Streeting after the health secretary chose to release his own message exchanges with disgraced peer Peter Mandelson.

Police are currently looking into the former UK ambassador to the US over allegations of misconduct in a public office.

It comes after unearthed emails suggest Mandelson sent convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein confidential government information when he was the business secretary between 2008 and 2010.

A Commons motion is also set to force the release of government documents related to Mandelson’s appointment as the ambassador to the US.

But Streeting chose to preemptively release his personal exchanges with his former ally Mandelson on Monday.

He shared a transcript of messages from August 2024 to October 2025 to address what the minister described as the “smear and innuendo” from the weekend which suggested he had something to hide.

The messages showed the health secretary feared the government had “no growth strategy” and that he would be “toast” at the next general election.

Starmer rejected these concerns from Streeting when asked by the media, insisting chancellor Rachel Reeves is “turning the economy around”.

He added: “Now we have to nurture that. We have to make sure that this is for real, and it’s felt in people’s pockets.”

The prime minister continued: “The issue of text messages and all information that’s being gathered as a result of the humble address last week, that needs to be a managed process, both in government and obviously, there’s a police element to it.”

Asked specifically if he had reprimanded Streeting for releasing his Mandelson messages, the prime minister said: “I’m not going to comment on the health secretary’s disclosure of those messages, that’s for him.”

But he added: “I do think that we all need to ensure that we’re all acting together in this, because all the information needs to be pulled together.”

Scotland Yard encouraged members of the government not to share documents which could be used in their investigation on Tuesday, saying it was “vital due process is followed” and that its probe is not jeopardised.

“An investigation into alleged misconduct in public office is under way and it is vital due process is followed so that our criminal investigation and any potential prosecution is not compromised,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

“As part of our inquiries, we will review material identified and provided to us by the Cabinet Office to assess whether publication is likely to have a detrimental impact on our investigation or any subsequent prosecution.

“We will work alongside the Cabinet Office to review relevant documents over the weeks ahead. The process to decide which documents should ultimately be published remains a matter for government and parliament.

“As we have stated previously, this investigation may be complex but we are focused on a timely and thorough process so that justice is served in this case, or future ones linked to the Epstein files.”

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No.10 Dismisses Wes Streeting’s Thinly-Veiled Attack Against ‘Technocratic’ Starmer

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No.10 has downplayed speculation that Wes Streeting had attacked Keir Starmer after warning against the government’s “technocratic” approach.

The health secretary is rumoured to be considering throwing his hat into the ring to replace Starmer, as his premiership looks increasingly unsteady – although Streeting has repeatedly denied any such accusations.

But, the cabinet minister still told the New Statesman he was “pretty frustrated” right now, and believes that the “huge amount” of work Labour has done since getting into office is “not reflected in the polls” or their storytelling.

He added: “I think we sell ourselves short.”

The health secretary claimed Labour is at risk of presenting itself as the “maintenance department of the country”, too.

He added: “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 notably did not mention his boss by name in the interview, but Starmer has been criticised for being too technocratic in the past.

Streeting also insisted he would not to “indulge” in questions about potentially becoming the prime minister in 2026, responding only with a pantomime style answer: “Oh no, he’s not.”

Starmer’s official spokesperson then side-stepped questions about Streeting’s dig during Thursday’s press briefing.

“I think what the health secretary is setting out is that the public voted for change. That’s what they want to see delivered, and again, that is exactly what the government is focused on doing. The government is united behind a manifesto of change,” he said.

When pushed again on the PM’s thoughts over Streeting’s interview, the spokesperson said: “The inheritance is clear, the public services are on their knees, a stagnant economy and families facing a cost of living crisis.

“That’s what the government is determined to do in terms of the action we take,” he said.

Asked if Starmer was embarrassed about the cabinet briefing against him, his representative insisted: “The government is focused on delivering change.”

Streeting is known for being outspoken about the direction of the government.

He caused a stir in October when he piled more pressure on the PM in the wake of Labour’s by-election defeat in Caerphilly, comparing the loss to a day in 2021 when Starmer almost quit as Labour leader.

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Wes Streeting Is Wrong. ADHD Is Not Overdiagnosed, I Should Know.

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Yesterday (Dec 4), Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced that he would be launching an independent review into rising demand for mental health, ADHD, and autism services in England.

On the surface, this might seem like a good thing – mental health and neurodivergence healthcare is stretched thin in the UK, people are crying out for help, so what we need to do is find a way to improve those services so that people can get the support they need, right?

Unfortunately, no.

In fact, the headline aim of this review is to see whether there is evidence of over-diagnosis, with the BBC reporting that the government “believes there are people being referred onto waiting lists who do not need treatment.”

Streeting himself said these conditions were being over-diagnosed earlier this year, though he has since claimed in a piece for The Guardian that those remarks were “divisive” and had “failed to capture the complexity of this problem”.

He wrote: “The truth is there has been a massive growth in mental health and behavioural issues and there isn’t a consensus within the mental health clinical community on what is driving it. We must look at this through a strictly clinical lens to get an evidence-based understanding… That’s the only way we can ensure everyone gets timely access to accurate diagnosis and effective support.”

But, despite Streeting’s attempts to roll back his earlier comments about over-diagnosis, an emphasis on questioning what is “driving” an increase in mental health and neurodivergent diagnoses rather than how to support that increase is both erroneous and borderline offensive.

There is already widespread and growing stigma about conditions like ADHD, with regular discourse online and among politicians about whether those diagnosed are “truly” struggling, and language about finding “evidence” for what is behind this surge in demand only adds to that rhetoric.

I was diagnosed with ADHD nearly two years ago, after waiting 1.5 years for a diagnosis. To many, that might not sound like too long – in some places, there can be up to a 10-year wait for diagnosis – but I was battling with my symptoms long before I was first referred to a Right to Choose provider for assessment. I spent years struggling with basic household tasks, relationships, and school and work, finding myself unable to focus for long periods, and berating myself for not being “normal” like everyone else around me.

This was particularly bad during university when I had a lack of structure and was forced to discipline myself – something that people with ADHD notoriously find difficult – leading to me being diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression. It turns out that the deterioration in my mental health was a result of not knowing about my ADHD and therefore not dealing with it in the right way.

I also battled with internalised stigma about having ADHD, overrun by narratives that people are lying about having the condition, conning themselves into believing they have ADHD, or that it’s not so serious that it even requires diagnosis and intervention.

Many people with ADHD grapple with similar difficulties, meaning they are reluctant to seek a diagnosis or are not believed when they do. Receiving a formal diagnosis was important to me both to feel validated in how I approached work, relationships, and life itself in the past as well as to ensure that I was legally entitled to receive specialist support for the condition. Without a diagnosis, that can be much harder.

At one previous job, for example, I was unable to obtain reasonable adjustments – and received zero empathy from my line manager – until I received a formal diagnosis, meaning I was protected under the 2010 Equality Act.

The current system we operate under does leave many people being “written off”, like Streeting said, but not in the way he might think. It is not due to over-diagnosis but rather chronic underfunding and complex healthcare systems that are not fit-for-purpose, that leaves people in the dust.

Streeting’s review is also looking to “raise the healthiest generation, increase healthy life expectancy, and reduce suicide”, but further stigmatisation of these conditions is in direct conflict with that goal.

People with ADHD are in fact more at risk of suicide and have a lower life expectancy than those who are neurotypical, with 1 in 4 women, and 1 in 10 men, with ADHD will at some time try to take their own lives, while people with ADHD are likely to die between seven and nine years younger than their peers. This is why it is so important for people to be able to access mental health and neurodivergent diagnoses and support.

For Streeting to suggest that the rise in demand requires any intervention apart from additional funding as well as empathy for those struggling, is ridiculous.

I am not the only one who thinks so. Henry Shelford, CEO of campaigning organisation ADHD UK, told HuffPost UK: “ADHD is not overdiagnosed. A recent Lancet study published research that analysed 9 million GP records and showed just 0.32% of patients have a diagnosis of ADHD. That’s nudging just 10% of the 3-4% of the population who have ADHD.

“We’re underdiagnosed, not overdiagnosed. In addition, a BBC study showed the average wait for an ADHD diagnosis in England is 8 years. The idea that you can achieve overdiagnosis with an average wait of nearly a decade is just preposterous.”

If Streeting wants fewer people to be struggling with ADHD, autism, and associated mental health conditions, then the answer is to invest in those services and support the people who need it rather than blaming them for getting diagnosed in the first place. Focusing on “overdiagnosis”, and refusing to acknowledge just how broken our system is, will push more and more people to breaking point – and the whole country will be worse-for-wear as a result.

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Wes Streeting Insists He Is Happy As Health Secretary – But Adds A Cheeky Afterthought

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Wes Streeting brushed off suggestions he wanted to oust Keir Starmer as prime minister today when speaking to LBC – but added in a quick quip while he was at it.

It comes after multiple reports citing senior Labour sources claimed this week that the health secretary was thought to be on manoeuvres and looking to oust the prime minister – while No.10 officials insisted Starmer would not be going anywhere anytime soon.

Streeting instantly denied the reports, accusing senior figures of trying to “kneecap” him and claimed there was a “toxic culture” within No.10.

Starmer later apologised to his cabinet minister over the phone, and insisted he has never authorised any attacks on his ministers.

Speaking on an LBC phone-in on Friday morning, the health secretary seemed to suggest everything was well between him and his boss.

He claimed he and Starmer are still in the “same boat” over the leadership row, joking: “The season finale of the Traitors is over.

“I think the prime minister and I are both in the same boat here of being extremely frustrated because this is a total distraction.”

Streeting also said he had confidence in Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who has been criticised amid the row.

When asked if he wanted to be prime minister “one day”, Streeting said: “I’m very happy to be doing the job I’m currently doing.”

LBC presenter Nick Ferrari then pointed to a clip from 2018 when Streeting – then a backbencher – predicted that he would be prime minister within a decade.

He smiled, and replied: “It will be my sense of humour that will ultimately do for me one day.

“But If you don’t back yourself, who will? That’s my advice to the kids in my constituency.”

Streeting also spoke out about the way the union jack has become a source of tension in the UK.

“We normally fly our flag in moments of national celebration,” he said, adding that he was “proud” of it.

“It does get hijacked by racists from time to time and I think our response to that should be to reclaim it,” he continued.

“I think we’ve got a level of racism, overt racism, in this country, a kind we haven’t seen for years.

“I’ve been an elected councillor or MP for the last 15 years. I have not had racism come up in my constituency as often as it has in recent weeks.

“People not just saying, ‘I’m really worried about racism,’ people describing being abused, spat at, shoved, giving racist abuse.

“I think we’ve got a sort of 70s, 80s, style racism which has emerged and we’ve got to put it back in its box.

“The government’s got a role to play, but all of us have got a role to play.”

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Wes Streeting Says NHS Is ‘Addicted To Overspending’ As He Confirms Job Cuts

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Wes Streeting has said the NHS is “addicted to overspending” as he launched an attack on health bosses.

He said those in charge of the healthcare system assume “someone will come along to bail them out” when they blow their budgets.

His comments come as he suggested hundreds more government quangos could be axed following the abolition of NHS England.

Appearing on Sky News this morning, Streeting was asked by presenter Trevor Phillips: “Is it right that Jim Mackey, the head of NHS England, has written to local health boards demanding that they produce plans for a 50% reduction in their spending?”

Confirming the move, Streeting said there would be a “particular focus on management costs” to achieve that target.

He said: “Myself and Jim are confronting a financial planning round for the year ahead where systems returned financial plans to us that would have involved an overspend between £5 and £6 billion before the new financial year has even begun.

“I’m afraid this speaks to the culture that I identified before the general election where the NHS is addicted to overspending, is addicted to running up routine deficits, with the assumption that someone will come along to bail them out, in a way that, by the way, local councils would never be able to do.”

Phillips replied: “Are you saying that the apparatus of the NHS was basically wasting public money?”

Streeting said: “I think there’s definitely examples of waste and duplication and we’re going to go hard at it.

“Even if the public finances weren’t tight – and they are – I don’t think even in the good times it’s acceptable that taxpayers’ money is wasted, because the money you’re wasting could be spent on other public priorities or could be put back in the pockets of taxpayers.”

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\"The NHS is addicted to overspending\"

Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirms some integrated care boards have been asked to find 50% savings to stop \"waste and inefficiency\". pic.twitter.com/cbfQseG35k

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 16, 2025

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“The NHS is addicted to overspending”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirms some integrated care boards have been asked to find 50% savings to stop “waste and inefficiency”. pic.twitter.com/cbfQseG35k

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 16, 2025

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Streeting said he was committed to “slashing bloated bureaucracy”, suggesting many more health quangos could be axed.

“The abolition of NHS England – the world’s largest quango – is the beginning, not the end,” he said.

On the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the health secretary admitted the effeiciency drive will see “significant” numbers of NHS workers lose their jobs.

He said: “I’m going after the bureaucracy, not the people who work in it.

“Of course, I can’t sugar coat the fact that there will be a significant number of job losses and we will want to make sure we are treating people fairly, supporting them properly through that process. And I’m not criticising them, but I’ve got to make sure the system is well set up.”

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