Starmer should change course or he’ll be compelled to stop, Labour MP Richard Burgon warns | EUROtoday

Sir Keir Starmer should “change course immediately” or he will likely be passed by May, a Labour MP has warned, saying it’s “inevitable” the prime minister will likely be compelled to stop if the native elections are as unhealthy as predicted.

Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, additionally warned the UK is going through a “real threat for the first time in our country’s history of what I would consider to be a far-right extremist government”, arguing it’s the prime minister’s “duty to stop that happening”.

“He can only do that by delivering for people who want real change. And if he can’t do that, then of course, there’s going to have to be change at the very top,” he informed BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Mr Burgon’s feedback come amid rising concern over devastating approval rankings, with mounting discontent brewing amongst Labour backbenchers.

Last week, Labour MP Clive Lewis warned Sir Keir “doesn’t seem up to the job”, following the fallout over his involvement within the appointment of Lord Mandelson.

Britain’s ambassador to the US was dramatically sacked on Thursday amid new revelations about his relationship with the convicted paedophile – elevating severe questions concerning the prime minister’s judgement and main Mr Lewis to turn into the primary backbencher to publicly name for the prime minister to go.

Giving a harsh verdict on Sir Keir’s authorities, Mr Burgon mentioned: “I think it’s inevitable that if May’s elections go as people predict and the opinion polls predict, then I think Starmer will be gone at that time.”

He added: “It feels like we’re years and years into an unpopular government, rather than a year into a government that’s just got rid of the Conservatives. We’re losing votes to the left. We’re going to be losing seats to the right.

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“But fundamentally, for me, we face a real threat for the first time in our country’s history of what I would consider to be a far right extremist government.

“It’s the prime minister’s duty to stop that happening. He can only do that by delivering for people who want real change. And if he can’t do that, then of course, there’s going to have to be change at the very top”, he mentioned.

“The prime minister needs to change course immediately. Otherwise, I’m pretty certain he’ll be gone next May as it stands.”

Asked whether or not he thinks it’s doable for the prime minister to alter course, Mr Burgon mentioned: “That remains to be seen. I have to say that I’m not confident, because the signs are bad, because back benchers and voters have been telling the prime minister on key issues that he’s got it wrong, but he hasn’t listened.”

He added: “Listening is an important part of leadership. And without a change in political direction, without a change in political culture, then the prime minister, and therefore the government, will continue to fail.”

Behind the scenes, many left-wing Labour MPs wish to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as a doable choice to interchange Sir Keir. There are stories he’s gearing as much as launch a management bid calling on Downing Street to introduce wealth taxes, nationalise utility firms and finish the two-child profit cap.

Mr Lewis, the MP for Norwich South, who’s on the left of the occasion, final week informed BBC Radio 4’s Week in Westminster programme: “You see a Labour prime minister who feels that he’s lost control within the first year.

“This isn’t navel-gazing. This is me thinking about my constituents, this country, and the fact that the person who is eight points ahead of us is Nigel Farage. That terrifies me.

“It terrifies my constituents, and it terrifies a lot of people in this country. We don’t have the luxury of carrying on this way with someone who I think, increasingly, I’m sorry to say, just doesn’t seem up to the job.”

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But expertise minister Baroness Jacqui Smith rejected ideas that the Labour authorities was ignoring its MPs, in addition to claiming Mr Burgon has “never supported this prime minister.”

She informed Times Radio: “I don’t believe we are ignoring our MPs… I think what we’re doing is getting on with the job that the British people elected us to do, that they elected our MPs to do, that the vast majority of our MPs also believe that a Labour Government should focus on.”

Asked about Mr Burgon’s feedback, she mentioned: “Richard Burgon has never supported this Prime Minister.

“He actually had the whip removed from him for a period of time because of his failure to support the government, so the fact that he now thinks the prime minister should go is not actually new news.”

Asked if she thought Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham would do a greater job as chief, she mentioned: “No. I think the prime minister is doing a good job.

“Of course Andy isn’t in Parliament, he’s doing a really good job as mayor of Greater Manchester and actually when I talk to Andy what we tend to talk about is how can we make sure young people are getting the skills they need in Manchester, how can we support him to provide more opportunities… for the people of Greater Manchester.”

In order to problem Sir Keir for the management of the Labour Party, Mr Burnham must discover a parliamentary seat via a by-election. One doable choice can be the Gorton and Denton seat in Manchester, the place MP Andrew Gwynne has been suspended after sending sexist WhatsApp messages.

Serious questions have been raised over the prime minister’s management after he was compelled to sack Peter Mandelson as ambassador over his hyperlinks with Epstein, regardless of publicly defending the Labour grandee at PMQs the day earlier than.