Wes Streeting's resignation speech handed scathing Tory takedown: 'No substance!'

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Streeting warned that Labour risks "handing the keys" of No 10 to Nigel Farage’s party, while also warning Scottish and Welsh nationalism were an "existential threat" to the future of Britain.

He said: "The future of this country will not be built by setting neighbour against neighbour, it will be built by renewing the bonds between us, decent jobs, strong public services, safe communities, a place we can call home, and a sense that everyone has a stake in Britain’s success.

"That is the patriotism we need today, not a brittle nationalism built on grievance but a confident British patriotism, decent, fair-minded, internationalist, bound together in common endeavour, with a conviction that our greatest strength has always been one another."

Reacting to Mr Streeting's speech, Ms Coutinho argued that the address was merely an example of "eat, pray, love".

She told GB News: "It was just a long list of platitudes, I couldn't really find anything in it that anybody would disagree with.

"He said we need to care about defence, we all agree with that. We care about health, we all agree with that. We care about young people - but what he didn't have in there was any hard choices."

The Shadow Energy Secretary questioned what Mr Streeting really believes about some of the key Labour policies.

She asked: "What does he think about Shabana Mahmood's immigration reforms? We don't know. What does he think about Ed Miliband's net zero ideology, which is crushing jobs? We don't know.

"All of the big questions were completely unanswered, and I don't think we learned anything from that speech."

Ms Coutinho compared the outgoing Health Secretary to Sir Keir Starmer, arguing that Mr Streeting has "the same haircut and the same words" as the Prime Minister.

She said: "He's meant to be the best communicator, that's the top guy, and I thought it was Keir Starmer - same haircut, same words. There was maybe a nice bit about young people, but what else was there?

"I couldn't hear a single tough choice. He mentioned AI revolution, maybe that was something he said in quite positive terms, but I mean, I'm scratching around to try and find something there of substance."

Addressing Mr Streeting's concerns for "nationalism" in Britain, Ms Coutinho hit back at the remarks and said that the "reason that ethno-nationalism is popping up is because for too long, you have had a group of people who say that the English identity should be pushed to the bottom of the pile".

She explained: "The reason this country is great is because of the British traditions, the customs, the enlightenment and the Christian values and all of the things that have built our nation, this law that we all share and have put together.

"And I worry that it's actually the dismantling of those great traditions, it's the undermining of that national pride that then creates this negative reaction.

"So yes, I would completely fight ethnic-nationalism, but we must fight the sectarianism and the anti-British identity as well."

Questioned by host Tom Harwood on whether she believes Labour can "turn their fortunes around" under a new leader, the Tory MP said she wants to see someone who "makes difficult decisions and fight for them".

She concluded: "Whoever comes next needs to be someone who's going to take on the welfare bill, who's going to spend properly on defence, who's going to fix the problems that we have with growth, take on sectarianism, and all of those difficult things."