Starmer says he will ‘get to the bottom’ of pre-Budget leaks

Sir Keir Starmer reiterated that he would “get to the bottom” of leaks ahead of the Budget, and said he had no reason to believe they came from Downing Street.

The Prime Minister, facing questions from Parliament’s Liaison Committee, also repeated that any briefing against Cabinet ministers was “completely unacceptable”, and said he had told his staff and Cabinet as much – and put procedures in place to crack down on it.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves had previously told MPs she was “absolutely categorical” that a Financial Times story which revealed she had dropped plans for an income tax rise ahead of the Budget was “not an authorised briefing” but a leak.

Sir Keir said: “I’ve no reason to think there was a leak from No 10.”

Asked if he would go as far as removing someone from their post based on the outcome of the leak inquiry going on, he said: “Obviously, I’ll wait for the inquiry, but I mean the inquiry will go wherever the evidence takes it.

“There’s nothing to inhibit where they will go, and I’ll take appropriate action if there’s a finding.”

He added: “I’ll get to the bottom of these leaks. They are in any organisations, they’re intolerable.

“I took the same action when I was head of the Crown Prosecution Service. There is a leak inquiry. It can go wherever the evidence will take it, and if it comes to a conclusion, I’ll act on it.”

Sir Keir also fielded questions about briefings last month that forced Health Secretary Wes Streeting to deny plotting to unseat the Prime Minister.

He said special advisers had assured him that briefing against Mr Streeting had not come from Downing Street.

“I didn’t just take everything at face value. I looked at other bits of evidence to assure myself about what I was then saying publicly to the media,” he said.

He said he had been “clear and consistent” with his staff that briefing against Cabinet ministers is “completely unacceptable”.