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Starmer says Labour should not hold leadership contest when it should be fighting Greater Manchester mayoral byelection
Speaking to reporters at the G7 summit, Keir Starmer said it would be wrong for Labour to hold a leadership challenge ahead of a likely election to replace Andy Burnham as mayor of Greater Manchester.
If Burnham wins the byelection tomorrow (as all the constituency polls suggest he will), he will resign his mayoral job and there will be an election to replace him. It would probably take place on Thursday 30 July. Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester city council, is tipped to be Labour’s candidate. Burnham won easily in the last mayoral election two years ago, but he is personally very popular in the north-west in a way that Craig isn’t. Reform UK trounced Labour in the local elections in May, and holding the mayoralty will be a tough challenge for the party.
Asked about a potential leadership challenge, Starmer told reporters:
First and foremost, I want Andy Burnham to win, and that’s why I’ve encouraged activists and members to go up there during the course of the campaign, and they’ll be up there tomorrow helping to get the vote out.
Then what happens is we’re immediately tipped into a Manchester mayoral contest byelection, one of the biggest byelections that we’ve ever fought, because of the scale of it.
And it’s really important to my mind that the whole of the Labour party and Labour movement focuses on that, which is the next most immediate task.
I don’t think there should be a challenge. I think history, particularly the last government, shows that that isn’t a successful way for a government to behave.
But Starmer also did repeat his intention to fight a challenge if there is one.
If there is a challenge, then I intend to fight.
I’m not going to walk away from that, and I’ve been clear and consistent about that.
Key events
Bridget Phillipson tells MPs government to issue formal apology to victims of forced adoption policy in last century
Earlier this year the Commons education committee said the government should issue a formal apology to victims of official policy in England in the mid-20th century to require some women to give up children for adoption.
Jessica Murray reported at the time:
Between 1949 and 1976, an estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers and placed for adoption in England and Wales owing to a culture of shame surrounding pregnancy outside marriage. Religious organisations ran most of the mother and baby homes where pregnant women were sent to give birth, while charities and local authorities were also involved in funding the placements and finding adoptive parents.
Today Bridget Phillipson has said the government will deliver an apology for this. Giving evidence to the committee this morning, she said:
This government will very soon be making a full apology on behalf of the state to all of those affected by historic forced adoption in England.
The prime minister will have more to say on this shameful period in our history, reflecting the gravity of what has happened.
But here and now, let me say to all of those affected, you will get the apology that you so profoundly deserve.
Starmer says lifting two-child benefit cap is government decision he's most proud of
In his interview on Sky News this morning, Keir Starmer identified lifting the two-child benefit cap, a move that should lift almost 500,000 children out of poverty, as his best decision as PM.
Asked what he was most proud of, Starmer replied:
Lifting half a million children out of poverty by removing the two child benefit cap. That is something I’m proud of because that will be felt not just this year, next year, not just during the duration of this government, but for those children it will be felt for the rest of their lives.
In five years, 10 years, 20 years, they will have better, more enriched lives with better opportunities than they would otherwise have because of the decisions of this Labour government. I’m really proud of that.
Starmer’s answer implies a good understanding of the long-term, scarring effects of poverty.
But it is also noteworthy because getting rid of the two-child benefit cap was a significant U-turn. In opposition, Starmer did not just say the cap would stay; he even presented this decision as evidence of his fiscal responsibility. And, soon after Labour took office, he removed the whip from seven Labour MPs who voted for an SNP amendment saying the cap should go.
Asked to name his biggest mistakes, Starmer said he had “many regrets” because he had made mistakes. But everyone makes mistakes, he insisted.
There are plenty of things that we didn’t get right, and I regret the fact we didn’t get them right.
But I also, would point out, as a prime minister, as we take hundreds of decisions every single day. And it is inevitable, that you don’t get all of them right.
That’s the same in any walk of life and any business leader, anybody running any organisation, anybody running a media outlet, would know when you’re making that number of decisions, all of which matter, then some of them will turn out not to be the right decisions.
Everybody watching this, whatever they do, for a living, whatever they do in their lives will know that none of us get every decision right.
Starmer claims he does not feel angry or bitter about leadership turmoil he's facing
Keir Starmer has claimed that he does not feel angry about the leadership predicament he is in.
He made the comment in an interview this morning with Sky’s Beth Rigby. Asked if felt angry about the situation, and if he blamed himself, he replied:
No, I don’t feel angry, I don’t feel bitter, because I remind myself it is an incredible privilege to be the prime minister of the United Kingdom, to be here talking to world leaders about some of the biggest issues of the day, to be able to serve your country, to grapple with the difficult issues.
In his interview Starmer did sound calm. But there have been reports saying he does feel bitter about the way colleagues have turned against him. In an article for the Observer last month Tom Baldwin, Starmer’s biographer, said “those around [Starmer] describe his rage and anger over what he regards as ‘betrayal’ from some of his cabinet.”
Hannah Al-Othman, the Guardian’s North of England correspondent, has been covering the campaign in Makerfield and she will be taking part in an online Q&A at 1pm today. There are details about how to take part here.
We have not heard yet how Andy Burnham will respond to Keir Starmer’s offer of a “big role” in government (see 8.55am), but Dan Hodges, the Mail on Sunday columnist, has had a good guess at what the answer will be.
Burnham’s response to this will be that the best way for Labour to hold the Manchester mayoralty is for Starmer to announce he’s stepping down. Otherwise he will effectively be on the ballot, and will allow Reform to re-run their “Vote Reform, dump Starmer” slogan.
Keir Starmer says, the priority after Friday is winning the Manchester Mayoralty. So is it that easier for Labour to do if the message is:
a) “Keir Starmer is going to try and cling on as leader. Vote Labour”.
b) “Keir Starmer has agreed to step down. Vote Labour”.
The Mail is reporting today that Burnham “is planning to deliver the PM a private ultimatum this weekend, warning him that he must either set out a timetable for departure or face an imminent coup.”
That is a mainstream expectation at Westminster.
But we don’t know yet what Burnham would regard as a reasonable timetable for Starmer’s departure – before August? before or at party conference in September? by the end of the year? – and Burnham may not even have a settled view himself. A lot may depend on whether he wins Makerfield narrowly, or with a big, decisive majority.
Russian warship incident in Channel deeply concerning, says Starmer
Warning shots fired by a Russian warship sailing across the Channel on Tuesday morning were “deeply concerning and reckless”, Keir Starmer said this morning. Alexandra Topping and Dan Sabbagh have the story.
Starmer says Labour should not hold leadership contest when it should be fighting Greater Manchester mayoral byelection
Speaking to reporters at the G7 summit, Keir Starmer said it would be wrong for Labour to hold a leadership challenge ahead of a likely election to replace Andy Burnham as mayor of Greater Manchester.
If Burnham wins the byelection tomorrow (as all the constituency polls suggest he will), he will resign his mayoral job and there will be an election to replace him. It would probably take place on Thursday 30 July. Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester city council, is tipped to be Labour’s candidate. Burnham won easily in the last mayoral election two years ago, but he is personally very popular in the north-west in a way that Craig isn’t. Reform UK trounced Labour in the local elections in May, and holding the mayoralty will be a tough challenge for the party.
Asked about a potential leadership challenge, Starmer told reporters:
First and foremost, I want Andy Burnham to win, and that’s why I’ve encouraged activists and members to go up there during the course of the campaign, and they’ll be up there tomorrow helping to get the vote out.
Then what happens is we’re immediately tipped into a Manchester mayoral contest byelection, one of the biggest byelections that we’ve ever fought, because of the scale of it.
And it’s really important to my mind that the whole of the Labour party and Labour movement focuses on that, which is the next most immediate task.
I don’t think there should be a challenge. I think history, particularly the last government, shows that that isn’t a successful way for a government to behave.
But Starmer also did repeat his intention to fight a challenge if there is one.
If there is a challenge, then I intend to fight.
I’m not going to walk away from that, and I’ve been clear and consistent about that.
Starmer says he will offer Burnham ‘big role’ - as Streeting says he will challenge for leadership next week if PM won't quit
Good morning. Keir Starmer is still in France for the G7 summit but – as Margaret Thatcher discovered on a trip to Paris in November 1990 – acting as a statesman on the world stage does not protect a PM from a leadership challenge at home and, on that front, there has been a small development overnight; Starmer is now being told explicitly he will face a leadership challenge next week if he does not agree a timetable to stand down after the Makerfield byelection tomorrow.
This has always been implicit, but last night Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who wants to launch a leadership bid, said it out loud.
Streeting was doing media all day after giving a speech on his economic vision (which he calls progressive capitalism). Asked about the leadership at his speech event in the morning, he stressed that he wanted Starmer to set a timetable for his departure. By the time he came to speak to broadcasters in the evening, he was more explicit.
In an interview with Cathy Newman for on her Sky News show, asked what he would do if Starmer did not agree voluntarily to set a timetable for his departure, Streeting replied:
We can’t go on with this uncertainty. I think we will inevitably end up in a contest.
When Newman asked if he meant next week, Streeting replied:
I’ve given you my answer.
Newman pressed him again. “Next week the prime minister, you expect, will face a challenge?” And Streeting replied: “Yeah.”
A bit later, being interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire on Newsnight, Streeting gave a very similar answer. Asked about the timing of a challenge, Streeting said he was “not going get into, ‘is it Monday, is it Tuesday?’” But when Derbyshire asked if he meant “in the not too distant future”, Streeting replied: “We can’t go on with this.”
He also said he was confident he had the 81 names of Labour MPs he would need to launch a challenge.
This morning Starmer has responded. In an interview with Sky News, he said that he would offer Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor who is expected to win the Makerfield byelection tomorrow, a cabinet job. Burnham, of course, not Streeting, is the real threat to the PM, because he is the person with most support from Labour MPs, and Labour members, to replace Starmer.
Starmer told Sky’s Beth Rigby: “Yes, I want him to have a big role in government”.
He went on:
Well, I’m sure I’ll talk to Andy after the weekend, of course I will. I’ve spoken to him many times in recent weeks. And when I came into politics in 2015, it was Andy Burnham’s team that I joined, and we worked very well together.
He’s a huge asset, he’s been a fantastic mayor in Manchester and if he comes back into parliament – I hope he wins in the byelection – he’ll be a fantastic asset for our party and for the country.
This offer is almost certainly too late. Burnham does want “a big role in government”, but it is the one that Starmer is doing himself.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Keir Starmer is doing interviews with UK journalists at the G7 summit, which should start running on air and online throught the morning.
9.15am: Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, gives evidence to the Commons transport committee.
9.30am: Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, gives evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee.
9.45am: Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, gives evidence to the Commons education committee.
Noon: David Lammy, the deputy PM, takes PMQs on behalf of Starmer. The Tories have not yet said who will stand in for Kemi Badenoch.
Afternoon: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, gives a speech to a European Movement conference where he will call for the UK to rejoin the single market. Richard Hermer, the attorney general, is also giving a speech to the conference.
5pm: Andy Burnham is due to give a speech to his supporters in Makerfield on the eve of tomorrow’s byelection.
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