John Healey says Labour infighting puts government’s credibility at risk

John Healey didn’t mention anyone by name in his speech to the Good Growth Foundation, but it was clear to whom he was referring. Photograph: Lucy North/PA

John Healey has criticised Labour figures jockeying to become prime minister in a politicised speech in which he said the party’s “very credibility“ in government was at stake if the infighting deepened.

The defence secretary, a Keir Starmer loyalist, said the party had turned in on itself since the May elections in what appeared to be direct criticism of Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting and even the junior defence minister Al Carns.