Politics latest: Burnham allies accuse Streeting of ‘sabotage’ over call for UK to rejoin EU – UK Times

Sir Keir Starmer may be planning on campaigning for his leadership rival Andy Burnham in the by-election that could pave his way to ousting him from No 10, David Lammy has appeared to suggest.

The deputy prime minister said he himself would “of course” be campaigning with Mr Burnham, adding it “would be great to have him back in parliament”.

Asked if the prime minister would be going to campaign, he told the BBC: “All of us in cabinet will be campaigning to ensure that there is a Labor win in Makerfield.”

Pushed again on whether Sir Keir could be campaigning for Mr Burnham, he said: “Look, we have to get back to being one united team, we’ve had ten days of introspection. Let us now put that to one side. Let us unite to fight this by-election and to deliver on behalf of the British people.”

David Lammy has refused to say whether he wanted to rejoin the EU, insisting the Government is “absolutely committed” to its manifesto red lines.

The Deputy Prime Minister told Sky News: “We set red lines in the manifesto that we are absolutely committed to.

“I see now that there’s a debate about the next election. I’m not going to make a commitment about the next election and the next manifesto.”

Asked whether he would personally like to rejoin, he said: “I’m committed to collective responsibility. The manifesto we stood on. Wes Streeting has left the Government, he can have a debate, he can comment, that is not my position.”

He added: “I think we should remember that we are in Government and the British people won’t thank us for debates and comments, they want delivery.

“Delivery is what they want to see.”

David Lammy has said the Labour has scored a “spectacular own goal” in the last ten days as party infighting sparked chaos in the government.

Speaking to Sky News, the deputy prime minister urged his party to “remember our responsibilities as a government” in the wake of the fallout of the local elections.

“Let’s step back. I’m not going to sugarcoat this, I thought that the Labour Party over the last 10 days had a spectacular own goal after those local election results,” he said.

“We have a by-election to fight. We need to remember our responsibilities as a government. We are not in opposition, we have the levers of power.”

He also said that he would “100 per cent” campaign for Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by-election, adding: “He has my full support.”

David Lammy has insisted Sir Keir Starmer will not set out a timetable for his departure despite the mounting probability of a leadership challenge from Andy Burnham.

There has been speculation over the weekend that the prime minister is considering announcing a timetable for a leadership election in order to bring stability to government.

But his deputy has now insisted this is not the case, telling Sky News: “There will be no timetable”.

“Keir Starmer remains the most resilient person I know in my life,” Mr Lammy said.

“I spoke to him twice yesterday. He has a strength of character, a fighting experience. There will be no timetables.”

Sir Keir Starmer’s government will return to Westminster after a battle over reversing Brexit was ignited among the rivals vying to oust him as Prime Minister.

Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last week, signalled he wanted to see Britain return to the EU as he announced on Saturday he would stand in any Labour leadership contest.

Supporters of Andy Burnham are reportedly furious with Mr Streeting, according to the Times, as they believe it is a deliberate attempt to raise the salience of Brexit in the leave-voting constituency of Makerfield, where the Greater Manchester Mayor hopes to stand as a parliamentary candidate.

Mr Burnham sought to play down his own support for rejoining the trade bloc as he took part in a media blitz across the weekend.

He insisted there was a “long-term case” for advocating to join the EU, but insisted he was not campaigning on that issue in the by-election.

Reform UK, which is the second placed party in Makerfield, plans to make hay out of Mr Burnham’s previous support for rejoining the EU as it knocks doors in the constituency.

Sir Keir Starmer’s government will return to Westminster after a battle over reversing Brexit was ignited among the rivals vying to oust him as Prime Minister.

Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last week, signalled he wanted to see Britain return to the EU as he announced on Saturday he would stand in any Labour leadership contest.

Supporters of Andy Burnham are reportedly furious with Mr Streeting, according to the Times, as they believe it is a deliberate attempt to raise the salience of Brexit in the leave-voting constituency of Makerfield, where the Greater Manchester Mayor hopes to stand as a parliamentary candidate.

Mr Burnham sought to play down his own support for rejoining the trade bloc as he took part in a media blitz across the weekend.

He insisted there was a “long-term case” for advocating to join the EU, but insisted he was not campaigning on that issue in the by-election.

Reform UK, which is the second placed party in Makerfield, plans to make hay out of Mr Burnham’s previous support for rejoining the EU as it knocks doors in the constituency.

Speculation about a Labour leadership contest has been “froth and nonsense”, a senior Cabinet minister has said.

Lisa Nandy was asked on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips whether she believed Sir Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister by the summer holidays.

The Culture Secretary replied: “No, I don’t.

“I have spoken to the Prime Minister several times over the last week and he was very clear with the Cabinet on Tuesday that if people want to challenge him there is a process for doing that, there is a way to trigger a leadership contest, to be leader of the Labour Party and to succeed him as Prime Minister.

“Nobody has done that yet, despite the absolute feverish speculation.

“Every hour on the hour for the last week I’ve read that Wes Streeting was about to launch a challenge; that Andy Burnham was about to contest every seat in Greater Manchester, including my own; that Angela Rayner was written off, that Angela Rayner was now challenging; and most of it has turned out to be just froth and nonsense.

“We’ve got to get on with the job.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said that Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is only popular because he “hasn’t had to do anything”.

Responding to questions on whether Mr Burnham might be a “real threat” if he becomes Labour leader, Mrs Badenoch told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “He’s only popular because he hasn’t had to do anything.

“Politics is about making difficult decisions. As soon as he comes in and realises there’s no money to throw about, he’s going to become unpopular.

“Andy Burnham is talking about increasing borrowing. That’s going to hit everybody’s mortgages, that’s going to hit borrowing costs for this country.

“It’s going to put billions on debt interest – you’ll be paying a Burnham premium. I do not think that that’s going to make it popular at all.”