This must be moment of change for Labour, Miliband says after day of ‘peril’ for Starmer – live updates

Chris Mason
Political editor

The prime minister has had a political near-death experience – and survived, for now at least.

At various points, he looked like he might be done for and imminently.

If Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s desire to dislodge Keir Starmer had had public accomplices, that could have been it.

There was a crucial pivot point on Monday afternoon when things could have gone in one of two ways.

If others had said Starmer should go, he might not have got to the end of the day without announcing his departure.

But instead, there was a rallying of support from the cabinet and from various wings of the Labour Party.

Let’s be clear: missives of loyalty from cabinet ministers towards the prime minister shouldn’t be newsworthy and they only become so when the opposite seems feasible.

The sheer volume of social media posts only served to underline just how perilous Starmer’s position had been: he needed political scaffolding to prop him up from wherever it could be found.

But that support did come and he has seen off, for now, the moment of maximum danger for him.

Continue reading my analysis about why Labour has decided to stick with Starmer – for now.