Andy Burnham tonight insisted he would not ‘shy away’ as he launched a fresh blast at Sir Keir Starmer‘s leadership on the first day of Labour‘s conference in Liverpool.
The Greater Manchester mayor, who has claimed Labour MPs are privately urging him to challenge the PM, did nothing to dampen down speculation about his ambitions.
In a fiery speech at a rally on Sunday, Mr Burnham accused Sir Keir of shutting down debate within Labour’s ranks and overseeing ‘a climate of fear within our party’.
He acknowledged he had faced a furious backlash in recent days for using a string of media interviews to speak out about Sir Keir’s premiership
But he claimed that demanding ‘simplistic statements of loyalty’ risked ‘underestimating the peril’ that Labour is currently in.
Mr Burnham warned that local elections across the UK next May were going to be a ‘huge challenge’ for the party as he called for a ‘debate on our direction’.
He added that the Government needed to find a ‘more hopeful direction’ if Labour was to win again at the next general election, amid the threat posed by Reform UK.
The Greater Manchester mayor insisted he was not speaking out ‘purely for my own ambition’, but on behalf of fellow Labour politicians who face upcoming elections.
Andy Burnham insisted he would not ‘shy away’ as he launched a fresh blast at Sir Keir Starmer ‘s leadership on the first day of Labour’s conference in Liverpool
The Greater Manchester mayor, who has claimed Labour MPs are privately urging him to challenge the PM, did nothing to dampen down speculation about his ambitions.
In a fiery speech at a rally on Sunday, Mr Burnham accused Sir Keir of shutting down debate within Labour’s ranks and overseeing ‘a climate of fear within our party’.
‘I’m speaking out for the millions of good people around Britain who want a more hopeful direction for the country,’ he added.
The slump in both Labour’s poll ratings and Sir Keir’s personal approval among voters has fuelled speculation about the PM’s leadership.
In his address to a Labour conference fringe event, Mr Burnham said a ‘debate’ about Labour’s direction was needed ‘at this moment’.
‘I’m putting these ideas forward for a debate,’ he said. ‘And that’s what I’ve launched, I’ve launched a debate on our direction because I think we need it at this moment.
‘Because I want this Government to be a success.’
The Greater Manchester mayor insisted he had ‘spent much of the summer’ working to strengthen the Hillsborough Law recently unveiled by Sir Keir.
He said this ‘proves I’m here to support the Government to be that success’, adding: ‘I did that because I wanted this conference to be a success for the PM and the Government in this city.’
But Mr Burnham went on to voice further criticism of Sir Keir’s management of Labour, saying: ‘I think we need to go further and we do need to have a debate about our direction.
‘I for one won’t be shying away from that. And, in fact, I’m in a position to say something, to open up that debate. I think it’s very important that we do that right now.’
He added: ‘One of the things I do think we need to have a debate about is how do we have a policy agenda that connects more, that tells a story more – when people are on those doorsteps – about what the Government is trying to do.
Mr Burnham warned that local elections across the UK next May were going to be a ‘huge challenge’ for the party as he called for a ‘debate on our direction’
The Greater Manchester mayor warned that debate was being stifled wihtin Labour, asking: ‘How can you have an open debate about all those things if there is too much of a climate of fear within our party and the way the party is being run?’
He spoke out against Labour members being suspended for liking social media posts by other political parties, as well as MPs losing the Labour whip for voting against the Government on welfare cuts or the two-child benefit cap.
‘I was in the Blair government and in the Brown government and I don’t remember the party in Parliament being run in that way in that era,’ Mr Burnham said.
‘Because Labour in government needs to draw strength from all bits of the Labour family, it needs hear voices from all parts of the Labour family.
‘To sustain a Labour government you can’t be narrow and shallow, you’ve got to have everybody in play, everybody working together.’
Sir Keir has dismissed ‘the personal ambitions’ of Mr Burnham and also appeared draw parallels between the mayor’s economic agenda and Liz Truss’s mini-budget meltdown.
In a riposte to his critics on Sunday night, Mr Burnham said: ‘I’ve been accused of all things in the last week, as you can probably see.
‘I’ve done nothing more than launch a debate. What I would say to those who say I’m speaking out purely for my own ambition.
‘I can say to you all tonight I am speaking out for the thousands of councillors here at this conference who are worried about going to those doorsteps next May.
‘Speaking for the members of the Senedd who are working hard to keep Wales Labour.
‘And, of course, members of the Scottish Parliament as well who want a stronger story about Labour to go to those doorsteps.
‘I’m speaking out for the millions of good people around Britain who want a more hopeful direction for the country.
‘I think we can do it, I honestly believe it can be done – we can make this Government work.
‘We can find that more hopeful direction and we can win again at the next general election.’
