Starmer-Burnham latest: PM reportedly ‘resigned’ to stepping down as over 100 MPs call for him to quit – UK Times

Sir Keir Starmer has issued a Father’s Day message on Sunday in his first words to the public since over 100 MPs called for his resignation.

“Being a dad is my greatest joy,” he wrote in a post on social media along with a picture of himself with his late father. “Today, I’m thinking about my dad, and the father I am to my children because of him. Happy Father’s Day.”

Amid claims by Reform UK sources that the party is having an autopsy after the disastrous Makerfield by-election last week it has declined opportunities to appear on the Sunday morning political shows.

Despite invitations to join BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg and Sky News’ Sir Trevor Philips nobody from Reform has been put up.

The party is even boycotting Camilla Tominey on GB News, the one channel which has been seen as more friendly to them.

It comes as board member and former director communications Gawain Towler has written for the Telegraph claiming that the party has “a woman problem” under Nigel Farage’s “blokish” leadership.

There are also claims that Mr Farage wants to sideline home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf whose “mass deportation” rhetoric has turned off voters.

The Business Secretary said he had not spoken to the Prime Minister since Friday, when he had a “frank conversation” with him.

Peter Kyle said Sir Keir Starmer’s mindset was “calm” during the “lengthy conversation” and he talked about the interest of the country.

“As well as working really hard over this weekend, I think he is making time to reflect on the political realities, challenges, and opportunities that he finds himself in.

“I think that is what people would expect him to be doing at this moment in time,” he told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.

Asked if it was time for Sir Keir Starmer to relinquish office, he said: “I had a very frank conversation with the Prime Minister about all these issues and much more on Friday.

“My priority when I think what my role is in putting the country first is to uphold the authority of this government, to make sure that we can govern through a moment of political challenge, and that we are 100% focused on delivering.”

Peter Kyle has told Sky News that he texted Andy Burnham to congratulate him on his “remarkable victory” in the Makerfield by-election.

But he told Sir Trevor Phillips that Mr Burnham did not respond to his text. He said that Mr Burnham was busy and “my text did not ask for a response.”

But it underlines speculation that if Mr Burnham becomes prime minister there will be wholesale changes to the cabinet.

A number of the Sunday newspapers have speculated on Rachel Reeves’ potential successor as chancellor on the assumption she would not remain in any Burnham government.

Asked about reports Sir Keir Starmer is planning to announce his resignation, Business Secretary Peter Kyle told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “I have nothing to believe that they are true. I’m seeing a lot of speculation out there.

“The only thing I can say with fact is that the Prime Minister is hard at work, as he is every day.

“He is one of the most hardworking people I’ve ever come across, and today, as in every other day I’ve ever known Keir, he is out there working hard.

“At the same time he is also trying to create the space where he can think and reflect on the political realities and challenges and the opportunities that lie before us.”

Secretary of State for Business and Trade is on Sky News this morning and doing his best to swerve every question on the future of No 10.

Host Trevor Phillips has asked repeatedly about the leadership challenge Sir Keir Starmer is widely expected to face from newly elected Andy Burnham next week.

Mr Kyle says he “will not be drawn on speculation”, adding that he messaged Mr Burnham after his big byelection win but has not received a response.

Sir Keir Starmer is reportedly spending the weekend at Chequers with his wife Victoria considering whether he should stay as prime minister and fight a leadership contest or whether he should walk away gracefully.

Pressure was building on the Labour leader on Saturday, with multiple reports saying that Sir Keir had realised that he can no longer stay as prime minister.

Business secretary Peter Kyle will be representing the cabinet on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this morning as the discussion over Sir Keir’s future heats up further.

He will be joined by shadow chancellor Mel Stride, former cabinet secretary Simon Case, former Downing Street director of political strategy Paul Ovenden and Labour peer John Hutton. Also on the show will be Labour MPs Toby Perkins, Jess Phillips, and Luke Charters.

Monday will bring Andy Burnham to Westminster in his first day as MP for Makerfield.

Allies of Andy Burnham are reportedly growing confident that he will be crowned prime minister rather than face a prolonged contest for Labour leadership.

Mr Burnham is hopeful that he will have enough support from MPs to trigger a contest for the top job, The Guardian reported.

Cabinet ministers warned Sir Keir on Friday that if he chose to fight a leadership contest rather than setting out a timetable for departure then he would face a series of painful resignations. Paving the way for a potential coronation of Mr Burnham as prime minister.

One Burnham ally told the paper: We passed every single ridiculous test that they set – to win the way Andy has won, we smashed through every single ceiling they set, I think there couldn’t be a clearer message.

“It’s not a personal thing, but we can’t afford not to do this. We’ve got to be honest with ourselves about where we are and what we need to do to keep a Labour government going and [Starmer] can’t do that sadly.

“This is an existential crisis for us.”

A unique situation has opened up for him, albeit with some base manoeuvrings that would usually be described as machiavellian. A by-election in a fairly safe “local” Labour seat was engineered with him in mind, one where he could exploit the grievances created by a deeply unpopular Labour government and prime minister. “Vote for Us” was Burnham’s vibe-based slogan. You might say it’s rather disingenuous.

Mention of the Labour government, let alone Keir Starmer, hardly fell from his lips for weeks on end. The only time he talked about Labour being in power was to trash the record not just of the present government but also that of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, in which he loyally served as a minister and, latterly, in cabinet.

To Burnham, now, they may have done a few good things – but they were merely episodes in a 40-year-long neoliberal Thatcherite betrayal of the North of England and the working classes and for which, presumably, the time has come for them to be held to account by Our Andy.

Read the full piece here:

Purnell and Burnham were close friends. They had both been special advisers in the Blair government, both parachuted into safe Labour seats in the northwest of England in their early thirties, both risen to cabinet before 40.

All eyes turned to Burnham. Would he gamble and try to bring down a failing leader? As it happened, Burnham chose to remain in office, and even got a promotion to health secretary.

Some Labour figures of that vintage still wonder how history might have been different had Brown been removed in 2009 and David Miliband had stepped in. If Burnham had made another choice, could Labour have clung to power at the 2010 general election, preventing David Cameron, austerity and Brexit? It’s a question for future historians to ponder.

Read the full analysis piece here: