Welcome back to the Politics Hub on Wednesday, 11 February. 

Sir Keir Starmer will face Kemi Badenoch at PMQs this lunchtime, in what is proving to be a bruising week for the prime minister. 

Speaking at a cost of living event on Tuesday lunchtime, the PM joked, "it's been a long week" - so let's recap.

On Sunday, his chief of staff resigned. Morgan McSweeney was then joined out the door by Starmer's director of communications Tim Allan the next day. 

That led to the most perilous moment of the PM's premiership as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for him to quit - but Starmer was saved by his cabinet.

Having steadied the ship yesterday, it was then rocked again, as his former comms chief Matthew Doyle - only introduced to the Lords last month - had the Labour whip suspended for his connections with a child sex offender.

It means there's plenty to go at again in the final PMQs before the February recess, which begins tomorrow.

Elsewhere in Westminster today, the Liberal Democrats say they will be making a major economic announcement at a news conference this morning.

Daisy Cooper, the party's Treasury spokesperson, will be leading the event in central London.

Meanwhile, the government would rather the media spoke about its plans to double troop numbers in Norway over the next three years and play a major part in NATO's Arctic Sentry mission, a decision that's been announced by Defence Secretary John Healey overnight. 

It's all part of efforts to counter Russian threats in the High North. 

Plus, ministers are hoping to discuss the government's plan to ensure every secondary school in England and Wales has an "inclusion base" - a safe space for children with additional needs.

Coming up on Paste BN shortly:

• Georgia Gould, education minister
• Richard Holden, shadow transport secretary

Of course, we'll bring you all the updates throughout the day, right here on the Politics Hub.

That's it for today in the Politics Hub.

Join us again in the morning.

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 Sir Keir Starmer remains in a "weak position", despite his strong message insisting he will remain as prime minister and Labour leader.

That's the analysis of our political editor, Beth Rigby, following Starmer's comments to journalists this afternoon.

You can watch Beth's full analysis here:

Sir Keir Starmer appears to be safe, for now. 

After going through what can easily be described as the most perilous moment of his premiership so far, the PM has come out the other side - thanks to the backing of his cabinet. 

Now, the PM can retreat into the relative safety of parliamentary recess on Thursday evening.

But while Starmer is in the clear - at least for the next few weeks or so - his position has not really been strengthened, and he faces further challenges on the way. 

So, what are they?

By-election business

The Gorton and Denton by-election being held on 26 February in Greater Manchester looms large. 

It's been called after suspended Labour MP Andrew Gwynne made a deal so he could step down - and there's no guarantee Labour will hold on to the constituency.

While the Tories and Lib Dems are broadly considered not to be serious challengers, the Greens and Reform UK are both gunning for the seat.

Add to that, Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) - which Starmer is on - blocked Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from standing. 

A loss here could once again stir discontent among Labour MPs - and now Starmer's already sacked his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, there's nobody to hide behind.

All of the candidates for the by-election are listed here:

The locals

An even bigger challenge will be the elections on 7 May. 

More than 4,000 council seats across England are up for grabs, along with six directly elected mayors. 

Plus, there are elections that will decide the make-up (and control) of the Senedd in Cardiff, and the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood.

This is likely to be seen as a huge test of Starmer's leadership - and if Labour does badly, it could be seen as a crunch point for the PM, when his team turn against him and decide Labour needs a different approach.

Again, the lack of a scapegoat could be a problem if the results go badly for Starmer, and he'll still face a fortnight until the comparative calm of the next recess, and more than two months until the Commons rises for the summer.

Cabinet challengers

While the PM might be taken down by diary events, it's equally possible it won't be a predictably timed issue that proves the biggest challenge to Starmer's leadership.

Multiple PMs, most recently Boris Johnson, were dethroned when their own team eventually told them to give up the game - with an onslaught of resignations from the cabinet. 

That is most likely to be triggered by poor polling. 

YouGov's weekly intention poll, out today, places Labour in second place, eight points behind Reform and only one ahead of the Tories.

The Greens are three points behind Labour, while the Lib Dems are five. 

Starmer's personal polling makes for even less cheery reading for Labour MPs.

So, while Starmer is safe for now - he's not out of the woods.

Earlier, we reported on the Intelligence and Security Committee, saying they were yet to receive any of the Mandelson files from the government.

But there is an interesting titbit from the release, about the head of the civil service - known as the cabinet secretary.

Lord Beamish, the committee's chair, said: "From the government, the cabinet secretary had been due to attend but was unavailable at the last minute."

The meeting took place today.

Sir Chris Wormald is the cabinet secretary, and it is widely reported that he may be leaving the civil service imminently.

He is set to follow Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and director of communications Tim Allan out the famous black door.

Wormald took over the role in December 2024.

Dame Antonia Romeo, the chief civil servant at the Home Office, has been tipped as a replacement.

Downing Street is in turmoil as Sir Keir Starmer fights for his political life. Can he cling on to power?

Niall is joined by Lord Barwell, Theresa May’s chief of staff during her time in Downing Street.

He says watching current events play out is like post-traumatic stress disorder.

So, what actually goes on inside Downing Street during a time of crisis? And is there anything the prime minister can do to save his job? 

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Anna Turley, the chair of the Labour Party, is speaking to the Politics Hub tonight.

She is asked about Matthew Doyle, the former Downing Street communications chief who was tonight suspended from the Labour Party over links to a paedophile councillor.

Doyle entered the House of Lords as a peer last month, on Sir Keir Starmer's recommendation.

Asked if Doyle should remain a lord, Turley says: "No, I don't think he should."

She added: "That's my personal view. And just like with Peter Mandelson, we're going to be making it easier for people who have particularly undertaken criminal offences to be removed from the Lords.

"We don't have that power at the moment.

"He's not committed a criminal offence, but, you know, I just think people who've got this kind of record or have not been clear and transparent, there's no place for them in the Lords."

We've just had a new development in Labour circles.

Pam Duncan-Glancy, who is a member of Scottish parliament, has had the party whip suspended, our Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies has learnt.

This is due to her friendship with Sean Morton, Connor says.

It follows Matthew Doyle, the former Downing Street communications chief, having the whip withdrawn for his links to Morton.

A Labour spokesperson said: "All complaints are assessed thoroughly in line with our rules and procedures."

Duncan-Glancy has already said she would not be seeking to be an MSP again.

She said at the time she did not wish for a "personal friendship" to become a distraction.

She resigned from the Labour front bench in Holyrood previously.

Paste BN has approached Duncan-Glancy for comment.

By Sam Coates, deputy political editor, and Joe Cook, politics producer

With a prime minister under extreme fire and unable to command a majority in the Commons on matters of personal authority, is politics too self-absorbed to fix a problem as broken as the system for special educational needs provision?

Plans to reform the 12-year-old approach to SEND are expected to be announced within weeks - but how bold will they be given the complexity and opposition ministers are likely to encounter?

That's the question at the heart of a Paste BN investigation revealing the scale of the political challenge around reforming the system.

Figures from the Department for Education found one in five children were identified as having special educational needs, with most supported by their existing schools.

But a growing minority of these children have been given specific funding and legally enforceable programmes to meet their needs, via education, health and care plans (ECHPs), which can provide access to special or independent special schools. The number of these has nearly doubled since 2017 and is due to rise further to the end of the decade.