Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has dominated the headlines this week after she announced her plans to crackdown on asylum seekers in the UK. Mahmood’s tough talk has earned her criticism from some of her own colleagues about the Labour party’s stance on immigration, while some of her opponents in the Conservative and Reform parties have praised her position. But the issue of immigration is not the only area in which Mahmood is prepared to ruffle feathers – on the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast, she had some pretty harsh words for some in her own party.

Last week, some rather extraordinary briefings came out of Downing Street. No. 10 warned anyone thinking about challenging Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership that a move against him would be ‘reckless’ and ‘dangerous’. The Guardian reported that a number of senior aides were particularly concerned about a bid from Health Secretary Wes Streeting, with Downing Street sources telling the paper that there could be as many as 50 MPs willing to back him if the Budget landed badly.

But the warnings backfired, with Labour figures remarking that ‘a circular firing squad won’t help the government out of the hole we’re in’ while commentators broadly concluded the briefings had, if anything, strengthened Streeting’s position. The Health Secretary insisted he was not plotting against the PM, while Sir Keir was adamant that hostile comments had not originated from No. 10 or been authorised by him. How curious…

Mahmood was not holding back her views about the whole palaver either. When quizzed on the mess, she fumed:

It was a total car crash from start to finish. It’s mortifying talking about it still. It was embarrassing for the prime minister because then he’s got to obviously sort it out and he shouldn’t be put in that position and it’s not how he does his politics.

I think it put the prime minister in a horribly embarrassing position… I just hope that the humiliation means that the individuals responsible – they know who they are – just never ever put in a repeat performance.

Shots fired!

While there remains serious scepticism about Starmer’s ability to weather the storms facing the Labour government, MPs are split on what the flashpoint for a leadership bid should be. Many see the May elections – in Scotland, England and Wales – as make or break, however a small number are concerned that time is running out for their party and believe a challenge should come sooner rather than later. Talk about trouble in paradise, eh?