Starmer latest news: PM expected to announce resignation plan as Burnham heads to Westminster – UK Times

Sir Keir Starmer is understood to be discussing a plan to hand over the Labour leadership to Andy Burnham amid a growing belief that he will announce his timetable for departure on Monday.

The former Greater Manchester mayor is understood to want to wait to become prime minister until September and a delay would, according to a source, “allow the prime minister to secure his legacy.”

The source said that the prime minister is now “working towards” a handover in early September after the summer recess but MPs suggest it could be as early as mid-July.

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US president Donald Trump has said that Sir Keir Starmer “will resign” as prime minister, accusing him of “failing badly” on immigration and energy.

Writing on social media platform Truth Social on Sunday, Mr Trump said: “Keir Starmer will resign as prime minister of the United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects – immigration and energy (Open North Sea oil!). I wish him well! President DJT”.

The post is thought to be based on media reports as the two have not spoken this weekend.

Sir Keir is not the only leader to face criticism from Mr Trump this weekend after he hit out at Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday.

Mr Trump said that Ms Meloni was “doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity”, and accused her of not supporting US efforts to prevent Iran “from obtaining or developing a nuclear weapon”.

Ms Meloni retaliated on Instagram, saying the US president’s “constant, unprovoked attacks” were “senseless”. She added: “As for my popularity, being your friend has certainly not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you. My popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours.”

Home Office minister Mike Tapp has said the change-over of British prime ministers has become “unsustainable” amid pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to set out a timetable to leave office on Monday.

Mr Tapp took to social media platform X on Sunday to call for a new law that would see a general election called if there is a change of prime minister.

He added to his comments, later saying: “We cannot continue as we are. There are many nuances to this but at the core we must remember that as politicians we are here to serve the country – and 6 (possibly 7) PMs in 10 years is unsustainable.

“We need to find a better balance and this conversation is important.”

If everything had gone according to Hasan Piker’s plan two weeks ago, he’d have no reason to talk to me.

He and his uncle – both controversial political commentators from the US – were barred from the UK earlier this month, so he’s sitting at a desk speaking via a video call, looking similar to how he spends most of his time, streaming eight hours a day, seven days a week, to 3.1 million followers on Twitch, writes Liam Murphy-Robledo.

No formal statement has been given on the decision, but the Home Office confirmed to The Guardian the two men’s entry into the country “may not be conducive to the public good”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said that she will not do an electoral deal with Reform UK’s Nigel Farage, insisting: “We are not the same, and voters are not ours to trade like football cards”.

Writing in The Mail on Sunday, Ms Badenoch said that “Reform dress like Thatcherites but act like Corbynites”, as she criticised Mr Farage’s party for “a bigger state, more spending, nationalisation, gimmicks, and unfunded giveaways”.

She said that “the way to stop Leftwing coalitions is to build a Conservative majority that reaches beyond the Right.”

She said that calls to “unite the right” were “really just a demand that Conservatives stand down and give Reform a free run because they can’t win a general election otherwise.”

Ms Badenoch insisted that the Conservatives can win the next general election.

As the prospect of Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation looms over the start of the coming week like the heatwave, one thing strikes me above all else. Whenever conversation does grudgingly turn to the prospect of a contest rather than a coronation for Andy Burnham, the key players are all men, writes Kat Brown.

Notwithstanding Labour’s glaringly obvious reluctance to vote for women in leadership contests, let alone get behind one as leader, this feels like the Starmer drama has caused memory leaks in the PLP.

I know a lot’s been going on, but let’s try and cast our minds back a whole five months to February, when Labour was in the grips of the Mandelson scandal. Starmer met with the Women’s PLP to “discuss” the boys’ club culture in his government that had factored in Peter Mandelson’s appointment. Harriet Harman told the PM he needed to “transform the political culture in government around women and girls”.

Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, eventually resigned over Mandelson’s appointment. Yet, just four months later, The i Paper reported three Government sources as saying he was back, advising Starmer over the phone. And on Friday week Baroness Harman was back to say what we really should all be thinking: “There must be a woman in the contest”, she told Radio 4’s Today programme. “We cannot have a male beauty parade again.”

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US president Donald Trump has said that Sir Keir Starmer “will resign” as prime minister, accusing him of “failing badly” on immigration and energy.

Writing on social media platform Truth Social on Sunday, Mr Trump said: “Keir Starmer will resign as prime minister of the United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects – immigration and energy (Open North Sea oil!). I wish him well! President DJT”.

The post is thought to be based on media reports as the two have not spoken this weekend.

Preet Kaur Gill, Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, has criticised her fellow parliamentarians for indulging in “far too much Westminster gossip”.

Writing on X on Sunday afternoon, she wrote: “There is far too much Westminster gossip and not enough focus on the people we are here to serve. The public expect us to focus on the job we were elected to do, not indulge in endless internal noise.”

Changing leader “will invite incessant demands for an early general election”, Labour ally of Sir Keir Starmer warns.

Writing in Labour List, Michael Payne, MP for Gedling, said on Sunday that replacing Sir Keir as prime minister would “risk distracting the government from the work of national renewal.”

He continued: “Whether you think changing leader is a mistake or not Labour’s responsibility is to remain focused on delivering for the country that elected us to govern. The British people elected a Labour government to govern, not to spend its time indulging Westminster psychodrama.

“And while our political opponents – not least Nigel Farage and those who would happily reverse the progress we have made – seek to talk Britain down, Labour should never lose confidence in what we have achieved together.”

Neil Coyle, Labour MP for Bermondsey, has said that Sir Keir Starmer is a victim of “an utter stitch-up”.

Posting on X on Sunday, Mr Coyle said: “My members are livid about the prospect of an utter stitch-up and the media circus being rewarded. When the next leader cannot change Trump, Iran, Ukraine, Putin, Musk, broadcast editorial and algorithm bias overnight they’ll bay for his blood too. Better keep that guillotine sharp.”