Sir Keir Starmer will not be setting out a timetable for standing down as Prime Minister, says Cabinet minister David Lammy.
The Deputy Prime Minister flatly denied reports at the weekend that Sir Keir was planning an orderly departure from No10.
Tottenham MP Mr Lammy gave an insight into the Prime Minister’s thinking as he faces an unprecedented threat to his leadership.
“Let me be really clear, Keir Starmer remains the most resilient person I know in my life,” Mr Lammy told Sky News.
“I spoke to him twice yesterday. He has a strength of character, a fighting experience.
“There will be no timetables. What there is is getting on with the business of Government, determination to deliver for the British people, accelerate the pace.”
Pressed whether Sir Keir was considering laying out a timetable for standing down, he added: “There will be no timetable for departure.”
After a week of Labour civil war, Spurs fan Mr Lammy said the party needed to stop scoring “own goals” and instead start passing the ball between itself as a team.
However, Labour was gripped with fresh infighting after Wes Streeting, who resigned as Health Secretary last week, said Britain should rejoin the European Union.
Supporters of Andy Burnham are reportedly furious with Ilford North MP Mr Streeting as they believe it is a deliberate attempt to raise the salience of Brexit in the Leave-voting constituency of Makerfield, where the Greater Manchester Mayor hopes to stand as a parliamentary candidate.
Mr Burnham sought to play down his own support for rejoining the trade bloc as he took part in a media blitz across the weekend.
He insisted there was a “long-term case” for advocating to join the EU, but insisted he was not campaigning on that issue in the by-election.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy rebuked her former colleague, Mr Streeting, for making Europe a centre-point of his campaign to succeed Sir Keir, describing it as “odd”.
“If rejoining the EU is the answer, then essentially what we’re saying to people is, ‘life was fine in 2015, we just need to go back there’,” added Ms Nandy, who is seen as an ally to the Greater Manchester Mayor.
Reform UK, which is the second placed party in Makerfield, plans to make hay out of Mr Burnham’s previous support for rejoining the EU as it knocks doors in the constituency.
Nigel Farage is reportedly calling the Greater Manchester Mayor “open borders Burnham”, indicating the Reform leader plans to campaign on the impact future EU membership could have on inward migration to the UK.
Sir Keir, who reportedly spent the weekend at his Chequers country estate, was said to be privately considering whether he will contest challenges to his leadership, despite having publicly insisted he will fight them.
Ms Nandy appeared to veer away from the Government line that Sir Keir would stand against his rivals as she spoke to broadcasters on Sunday morning, telling the BBC: “It’s a very personal decision for him.”
She later added: “So, I wouldn’t write off the Prime Minister, but I would just say that this is a very personal decision.
“He’s got to make that decision himself.”
