PM warns ministers can ‘be disruptors or disrupted’ in six-hour Cabinet meeting

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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer warned ministers they could "either be the change-makers or be left behind" at the beginning of a long Cabinet meeting on Friday.

He started a roughly six-hour meeting with his top ministers at Lancaster House in Westminster. In it, he implored them to "increase the pace of change" while against a backdrop of global and domestic turmoil.

At a first meeting of the cabinet, without any officials from the civil service, the Prime Minister targeted "right-wing populists" who claimed to be "on the side of ordinary working people" but could only offer "grievances not solutions", according to a report of the meeting.

While he praised civil servants, he also warned that caution is "hard-wired" into the establishment and called on ministers to do more to reform public services and deliver on the Government's agenda.

Adopting the language of Silicon Valley, he said, "My take is that while we're working flat out, the world's moving at an incredible pace.

We have the choice of being innovators or being left behind.

The meeting comes as the Government is still struggling to find economic growth despite declining public support, a rise in backing for Reform UK and the looming risk that tariffs from the new US administration in Washington could jeopardise Labour's economic strategy.

It also aligns with a Bank of England forecast published on Thursday, which halved its growth forecast for 2025, while predicting a more substantial increase in growth in subsequent years and a reduction in interest rates.

This week's news should be a disappointment for a Government that's focused on economic growth, and so the Prime Minister started the main meeting with the senior ministers with a focus on the economy.

The meeting also saw Chancellor Rachel Reeves point to support for the third Heathrow runway as a model for boosting growth – a decision that has caused some friction with Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband.

Mr Miliband has previously voted against a third runway, but when discussing the issue on Friday morning, he stated that he would "abide by collective responsibility", making it clear that any plans for a runway would have to "meet stringent environmental requirements and come in within our carbon targets".

Other areas discussed during the meeting included collaboration with commerce, proposals to modernise public services and the Government's plans for artificial intelligence.