Labour failing to learn from Tories over leadership change calls, says Kyle

Labour has failed to learn lessons from the Conservatives who thought the answer every time there was a problem in government was "changing the leader", a cabinet minister has warned.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle expressed his frustration at a lunch event in Parliament where it was put to him that the government "lacked a sense of leadership".

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has defied calls from Labour MPs to step down after poor election results.

No candidates have launched a formal challenge against the PM at this stage despite intense speculation in Westminster.

Kyle said: "I don't think we've learned the lessons of the Tory Party in government, where every time there was a problem that was experienced with their government, there was only one solution, and that's changing the leader at the top."

He said "they always felt that changing the person at the top would solve it" and described his own party's failure to learn from that as "a frustration of mine".

Kyle criticised colleagues who he said were "quite conveniently" pinning the government's problems on the shoulders of one individual, saying "it's easy to blame one person, and not accept responsibility for our collective endeavour as a government".

Following Labour's huge losses in last month's elections in England, Wales and Scotland almost a hundred MPs signed a letter calling on Sir Keir to stand down or set a timetable to go.