"We are just over a week after we took a real beating in our working-class heartlands. It's a very long list we're talking about the Hartlepools, the Grimsbys, Barnsley, places like Wigan, where this byelection is going to be, and we were losing to a party [Reform UK] which until recently was called the Brexit party. And to suggest the solution now is for us to reopen that debate is just staggering, and the Labour party is in an existential crisis, it really is, and the idea that we can reconnect to our working-class base by reopening this debate is just a staggering level of out of touch."
"Seven days ago, the biggest threat to Keir Starmer was a half-baked challenge from Catherine West. A week on, with Andy Burnham on a viable path back to Westminster within the next few weeks, it now seems more likely than not that Burnham will be prime minister by the autumn, perhaps earlier, and that Keir Starmer will be out. We are likely to hear from Starmer himself this morning."
"Lammy has insisted that Starmer is not about to set out a timetable for his departure. This is the public position. But, in private, Starmer's position seems to be a bit more nuanced; in his story from yesterday, Kiran Stacey quoted a friend of Starmer's as saying: [Starmer's] position is not I will stand, come what may'. It depends on what happens, but at the same time it's about not rushing to positions that might suit particular other factions in the Labour party."
"Burnham is not the only candidate to be next Labour leader. Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, wants the job too and at the weekend he declared that he wanted to see the UK"
Jonathan Hinder criticized Wes Streeting’s suggestion that the UK should rejoin the EU as out of touch with recent electoral setbacks in working-class areas. He cited byelection and regional losses across places such as Hartlepools, Grimsby, Barnsley, and Wigan, including defeats to Reform UK, formerly the Brexit party. Hinder said reopening the EU debate would not reconnect Labour with its working-class base and described Labour as facing an existential crisis. The political outlook also shifted, with Andy Burnham seen as potentially returning to Westminster and becoming prime minister by autumn. David Lammy maintained that Keir Starmer would not set a departure timetable, while private accounts suggested Starmer’s stance depends on events and avoiding positions that suit internal Labour factions. Wes Streeting also signaled interest in the Labour leadership.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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