Cabinet revolt erupts as Starmer refuses to budge
The Daily T
The Telegraph
4.1 • 702 Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The resignations have begun, putting Keir Starmer’s premiership teetering on the brink.
Victims minister Alex Davies-Jones joined safeguarding minister Jess Phillips this afternoon in standing down from government, as would-be challengers Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham work on their succession plans.
As Westminster waits on tenterhooks, Camilla and Tim are joined by suspended Labour MP Karl Turner who calls the situation “barmy” and offers the damning assessment that “ on the doorstep, Keir Starmer is more toxic than Jeremy Corbyn ever was.”
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Editor: Camilla Tominey
Highlights
- Government resignations begin with PM on the brink
- Suspended Labour MP calls the situation "barmy"
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph. |
| 0:09.8 | Is he mad? The Prime Minister refuses to go, but now he's been hit by his most high-profile resignation yet. |
| 0:16.6 | Jess Phillips. |
| 0:17.7 | Meanwhile, Andy Burnham's down in London, stirring things up in Westminster, |
| 0:22.2 | and West Streeting has a face like thunder. We speak to former Starma ally Carl Turner, |
| 0:28.3 | who delivers a scathing assessment of his premiership. Welcome to The Daily Tea with me, Tim Stanley, |
| 0:34.1 | and me, Camilla Tominy. |
| 0:45.4 | Thank you. Tim Stanley and me, Camilla Tomini. Tim, finally a resignation that we've heard of. |
| 0:49.4 | Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, has just handed a netter to the Prime Minister, |
| 0:55.0 | saying, I'm sorry, mate, I do quite like you, but you're just not good enough anymore. |
| 0:58.5 | Indeed. On Twitter slash X, I said yesterday evening, |
| 1:02.7 | we'll know that he's finished when someone resigns who I've heard of. |
| 1:05.9 | Well, we've now crossed that critical threshold. |
| 1:08.9 | Jess Phillips is a Labour MP who I've actually heard of. |
| 1:11.9 | Yes. |
| 1:12.4 | And so it is very significant because of her high profile, because of her job as safeguarding |
| 1:17.8 | minister, and because she is regarded as close to West Streeting, who is right now the frontrunner |
| 1:24.6 | among candidates who are actually in Parliament. |
| 1:28.5 | Yes. It should be noted that Andy Burnham is in London. |
| 1:31.7 | Houston, we have a problem. He's landed at the train station. |
| 1:35.3 | Yes. He's having some conversations with MPs later, presumably to persuade one of them to step aside for him to return from the north. |
| 1:42.9 | Or indeed, perhaps, to try to persuade West |
... |
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