Overview
- Downing Street briefed that any bid to unseat the prime minister would be reckless and destabilising, and allies said Keir Starmer would fight a challenge.
- Health Secretary Wes Streeting categorically denied coup claims, branded the briefings self‑defeating, and urged Starmer to sack those responsible.
- Reports suggested Streeting had about 50 frontbenchers ready to resign if the budget lands badly, a claim his spokesman rejected as untrue.
- British government bond prices and the pound fell briefly as investors reacted to the political turbulence, Reuters reported.
- Labour’s rules require support from 20% of MPs—around 80 to 81—to trigger a leadership contest, with affiliates and members participating in the vote.