Business secretary attacks ‘entitlement’ of Starmer leadership rivals

Peter Kyle flagged four major pieces of work his department had begun or completed in the past fortnight. Photograph: Ian Davidson/Sopa Images/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Peter Kyle flagged four major pieces of work his department had begun or completed in the past fortnight. Photograph: Ian Davidson/Sopa Images/Shutterstock Business secretary attacks ‘entitlement’ of Starmer leadership rivals Peter Kyle says British politics fails to reward political accomplishment and Labour risks aping Tory instability The Labour party has not learned the right lessons from the Conservatives about changing leader, a senior cabinet minister has warned, saying in a swipe at potential challengers that “entitlement is not a qualification”. Peter Kyle, the business secretary, said he was worried that British politics “rewards the wrong behaviour” and there was little credit for the work of his own department, including negotiating trade deals, rescue packages for companies and preserving British industry. “I think we reward the wrong behaviour in politics … if you want stability, you know people who put their heart and soul into delivering stability and authority … it’s not what is rewarded,” he told reporters in Westminster. “Entitlement is not a qualification for leadership. And until we ask the question of what is a qualification for leadership … then I think we’re always going to end up in this cycle of change. Because we simply reward the wrong behaviour, and if that gets you to the top, then we have another spin at the dice, the throw of the dice.” Kyle said his department had just completed a new trade deal with the Gulf, and begun the formal legislation for nationalising British Steel, a chemicals industry support package and one for the ceramics industry. “That is just in the last fortnight in this job,” he said. But he said there was little reward in the political cycle for those focused on achievement – and declined to blame Keir Starmer’s leadership for the party’s perilous position in the polls. “I think leadership is more than one person,” Kyle said. “If you’re running a country, leadership is a government-wide affair. My frustration, if I’m being very honest, is that I think the Tories have learned the lesson of the Labour party in opposition – we went to extreme positions and ideological positions with [the former leader Jeremy Corbyn]. “And I don’t think we’ve learned the lessons of the Tory party in government.