The Labour Right Wants Wes Streeting In No 10. Why? What Does He Really Stand For? | Oliver Eagleton

Just complete a twelvemonth aft Keir Starmer entered Downing Street, his governmental endurance already looks uncertain. Perennially indecisive, unpopular pinch nan public and incapable to walk awesome authorities without rebellions, nan premier curate has reportedly been put “on notice” by elder figures wrong his party. Speculation astir a imaginable successor is mounting.

What would Labour’s ascendant faction – nan neo-Blairite correct – look for successful a candidate? Their champion stake would beryllium an effective usability who doesn’t transportation excessively overmuch governmental baggage, a decent communicator, free of Starmer’s stumbling reticence, and a committed partisan of their cause: namely nan free marketplace and a beardown state. They request personification who will spell connected nan violative for these values, alternatively than offering nan bland apologetics that we person seen from nan incumbent.

Few fresh nan measure amended than nan wellness secretary, Wes Streeting, who has made nary secret of his ambition to lead nan state and appears to person spent years laying nan groundwork pinch media rounds, philanthropist events and backroom conversations. When Starmer’s activity of nan Labour statement was connected nan brink during nan Beergate scandal, Peter Mandelson is said to have canvassed nan Labour frontbench to anoint Streeting. “In nan longer term,” briefed 1 statement source, “Wes is their guy, not Keir.”

Born into a working-class eastbound London family successful 1983, Streeting has been reasonably accordant successful some his governmental style and outlook since he was successful his early 20s. A pugnacious advocator of backstage enterprise, and an effective behind-the-scenes operator, his deft handling of nan property allows him to stride into nan limelight astatine important moments, pinch memorable one-liners that look crafted to enrage his opponents. As president of nan National Union of Students (NUS) successful nan twilight of nan New Labour era, he inveighed against lecturers’ strikes, remarking that “students request business action by assemblage unit for illustration a spread successful nan head”. He besides collapsed pinch ascendant student sentiment by supporting tuition fees and criticising Palestine solidarity protests.

From nan NUS it was only a mini measurement to parliament, wherever Streeting landed successful 2015. The words “future leader” were instantly “appended to his sanction for illustration a Homeric epithet”, according to 1 insider account. He vigorously opposed nan activity of Jeremy Corbyn, repeatedly excoriating him successful parliamentary meetings and moving pinch nan People’s Vote run to chip away astatine his guidance to a 2nd Brexit referendum. This earned him a spot successful Starmer’s protector furniture erstwhile nan correct had regained power 5 years later. There, he made nary bones astir accepting hundreds of thousands of pounds from donors linked to nan backstage healthcare industry. He insisted that nan statement needed to get reliable connected “law and order” on pinch “defence and nationalist security”; and he signalled a clear displacement from nan overseas argumentation of nan Corbyn era by visiting Israel and gathering pinch ministers successful its government.

Now that Streeting is astatine nan helm of nan NHS, we are opening to spot really his hypothetical premier ministership mightiness play out. Shortly aft nan past wide election, he sketched retired his vision for nan wellness work successful nan pages of nan Sun, penning that “major surgery” was needed to make it “fit for nan future”: moving curen retired of hospitals, truthful arsenic to attraction connected section attraction and prevention. This could not beryllium achieved done nationalist spending, Streeting warned, because “the money isn’t there”. It could only beryllium done done hard-knuckled “reform”.

True to his word, Streeting has helped to normalise nan authorities of perma-austerity astatine nan wellness department, which will receive only an other 2.8% annually successful existent position complete nan coming years: little than nan semipermanent humanities norm of 3.7%, and acold beneath nan mean summation of 6.8% nether New Labour. This is obscurity adjacent capable to lick nan perpetual situation successful nan sector, fto unsocial make immoderate existent improvements successful nan quality of care.

Without meaningful investment, nan levers that Streeting tin propulsion to realise his goals are limited. There is reorganisation done measures specified arsenic nan summary abolition of NHS England and wide occupation cuts. There is techno-optimism, allowing AI companies specified arsenic Palantir to tally parts of nan ailing service. And, astir importantly, location is privatisation.

Streeting has been moving difficult to guarantee that “more treatments tin beryllium delivered done nan independent sector”, arsenic an official briefing put it. Under his watch, an moreover greater information of nan NHS – including, potentially, delicate patient data – is being handed over to profit-making companies. His scheme to group up 300 “neighbourhood wellness hubs” is powered by corporate finance, successful what is shaping up to beryllium a frame-by-frame replay of nan disastrous PFI initiatives of nan 2000s. Research shows that nan effect of these policies is to worsen wellness inequality. But this does not look to interest nan minister.

Bullish arsenic ever, Streeting has said he is “up for nan fight” that his scheme will provoke. And that is what he now has. In caller weeks, resident doctors rejected his conception that “reform” unsocial will magically resoluteness nan service’s deep-rooted problems of under-resourcing and understaffing. They refused to judge a salary woody that would amount to a 21% reduction successful their salaries since 2008, and alternatively made a opinionated lawsuit for costs restoration. Streeting was intransigent. During nan resulting five-day onslaught he launched a bid of broadsides against nan workers, insisting that they must consciousness nan “pain” of nan walkouts and vowing that they would “lose a warfare pinch this government”. Much for illustration his “bullet successful nan head” rhetoric, nan remarks showed that Streeting’s main liking is successful positioning himself arsenic a crusader connected behalf of nan constitution alternatively than fixing nan work he oversees. He is besides keenly alert of nan populist entreaty of his rhetoric astatine a clip erstwhile support for nan doctors’ struggle is in decline.

The different beforehand connected which Streeting has been fighting is nan civilization war. He has imposed a imperishable prohibition connected puberty blockers for trans children – contempt a wealthiness of dissenting master opinion including that of nan British Medical Association, which disputes nan technological ground of nan prohibition – and he has also barred those nether 18 from changing gender markers connected their NHS records, perchance making it much difficult for them to entree captious services.

The irony, of course, is that while Streeting styles himself arsenic nan man to hit Nigel Farage, his authorities is 1 of deference to large business, clampdowns connected trans authorities and incendiary rhetoric to provoke nan left. These features are much typically associated pinch reactionary populism than pinch societal democracy. Streeting’s ascent reflects nan truth that, successful today’s Labour party, nan erstwhile is cannibalising nan latter.

• Oliver Eagleton is an subordinate editor astatine nan New Left Review and writer of The Starmer Project: A Journey to nan Right