Starmer’s Fight For Survival
Newscast
BBC
4.3 • 6.6K Ratings
🗓️ 9 February 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, Keir Starmer has addressed his MPs and seems to have rallied some support after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for him to quit.
In a press conference in Glasgow, Sarwar emphasised his concerns for Scotland ahead of the May elections, and told reporters “the leadership in Downing Street has to change".
The move prompted statements supporting the prime minister from cabinet ministers and other key labour figures including potential rivals Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting.
The PM has been facing mounting pressure in recent days with two of his top aides Tim Allen and Morgan McSweeney resigning following the aftermath of revelations about the appointment of former US ambassador Peter Mandelson.
James and Alex are in for Adam to talk through what it all mean.
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New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenters were Alex Forsyth and James Cook. It was made by Anna Harris with Shiler Mahmoudi, Chloe Scannapieco and Sophie van Brugen. The technical producer was Hannah Montgomery. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.5 | We definitely do not have quiet days anymore in American politics. |
| 0:12.5 | Our podcast will help you cut through all the noise. |
| 0:15.9 | Make sense of what's happening in the US, with new podcast episodes arriving throughout the week. |
| 0:20.8 | AmeriCast, Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:24.2 | Hello, it's Alex Falsight. And it's James Cook in for Adam this week. And today has really |
| 0:30.4 | been one of those days where everything changes and changes quickly. And at the drop of not just |
| 0:34.9 | one hat, but several hats. And it's left quite a lot of people |
| 0:38.8 | Alex rather lost for words. Paddy was talking on Saturday's newscast about the mega pause. |
| 0:44.2 | Yeah. |
| 0:44.3 | In answer to a question it was Barry Gardner, I think on last week's newscast, the Labour MP. |
| 0:48.3 | On News night he was, yeah. News night, yes, you're right. And now we've had another one. |
| 0:53.2 | Yeah, there has. The kind of pregnant |
| 0:55.2 | pause where someone's picking their words very carefully. And this time it was James Lyons. |
| 0:59.2 | Now, keep up with me here. He used to be a director of communications at number 10, but he is no |
| 1:04.4 | longer in that job. And he was talking about the resignation today of the most recent director |
| 1:09.8 | of communications from number 10, a guy called |
| 1:12.2 | Tim Allen, and he was asked what it was like working with the guy who resigned yesterday. |
| 1:18.5 | It's hard to keep up. |
| 1:19.3 | It is, who was the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney. |
| 1:23.0 | You were a year in that role. How hard was it to work with Morgan McSweeney? |
| 1:31.7 | I thoroughly enjoyed working with Morgan McSweeney. |
... |
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