Starmer Tells Cabinet to Focus on Delivery After Major Reshuffle

(Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told his new cabinet to focus on delivery after a major government reshuffle aimed at rebuilding his premiership, a senior minister said.

Speaking to the BBC, John Healey said the premier has ordered the whole government to “up a gear” after a year of rule beset by mistakes and resignations. This includes getting to grips with the growing immigration crisis, with the defence secretary confirming that the government was looking at military sites as temporary accommodation for some asylum seekers. 

Precipitated by the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on Friday, Starmer unveiled an emergency Cabinet overhaul that included appointing Shabana Mahmood, who has backed a tougher line on immigration, as home secretary and installing Pat McFadden at the Department of Work and Pensions. A government official has said the moves put the focus on two areas: economic growth and stopping small boats carrying asylum seekers across the English Channel.  

Healey conceded on Sunday that Labour has had a difficult first year in office, telling Sky News: “we’ve spent a really tough first year cleaning up the mess, and now we’re starting to rebuild.”

He declined to directly address speculation that the government would water down its flagship workers’ rights bill championed by Rayner before her resignation. He said the government would take up the work already done by the former deputy prime minister and by employment rights minister Justin Madders, who was also ousted in the reshuffle.

“I’m really confident that we’ll deliver what we promised in the manifesto, the biggest upgrade of workers’ rights for a generation,” Healey said. 

Asked about a report that Starmer will end a divisive policy of housing asylum seekers in hotels and instead move them into army barracks, Healey said the government is looking at military and non-military sites for potential temporary accommodation.  

The prime minister has made clear that “dealing with the small boats, dealing with the immigration crisis is the job for the whole government, not just the home office,” he said. 

The report by the Telegraph newspaper also said the government was closing in on an agreement with Germany to return migrants, similar to the “one in, one out” deal reached with France earlier this year. 

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