Andy Burnham breaks silence as Labour civil battle intensifies | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Plotting Labour MPs should get behind Keir Starmer and cease attempting to overthrow him, Shabana Mahmood has insisted.

The Home Secretary claimed the embattled chief is “not going” regardless of rival Andy Burnham allegedly eyeing up a return to Westminster to put the groundwork for a future problem.

Mr Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, is poised to run in an upcoming by-election, allies claimed.

Strategists working for the Prime Minister’s arch rival have drawn up a shortlist of potential goal seats within the North West, together with the Greater Manchester seat at present held by former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne.

But Mr Burnham broke his silence on Sunday morning, claiming: “Quite a lot of rubbish in the papers today. Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place.”

While Home Secretary Ms Mahmood admitted “every single person” has thought in regards to the high job, she advised the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg present: “Well, Keir Starmer is not going.”

Asked once more, she stated: “Every single person has thought about it, of course they have, but that is not the same as plotting to overthrow a Prime Minister for God’s sake.

“The Prime Minister is getting on with doing his job. I am a member of his Government. I have a big job of my own to do, and that is the only thing I’m focused on.”

And Ms Mahmood, herself tipped as a future management contender, stated senior Labour figures ought to “focus on the day job” of delivering for the general public.

Commenting on rising discontent inside the Labour Party, the Home Secretary stated: “I think that all of us in Government and in the Labour Party have a responsibility to focus on the day job and to get on with delivering for the British people.

“I was on your show just a few weeks ago, and I made this point that every single minute you have in government is precious, and it’s a huge privilege and an honour to be the government of your country, and we mustn’t waste a single second of it.

“So actually, this is on the whole of the government and all of the parliamentary Labour Party and the whole Labour movement to make sure we don’t waste a single second of the time that we have in government.”

She advised Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: “Labour governments don’t come along very often, and every minute that we have in government is precious.

“It’s a privilege to be in government. I’m focused on the big job that I have as Home Secretary, and my advice to all colleagues everywhere would be that it’s a precious privilege, and we mustn’t waste a single minute of it.

“We have a big agenda. We have to crack on with delivering.”

Asked whether or not that message utilized to Labour mayors, she stated: “Wherever you sit in the Labour family, we all have a role to play in supporting the Labour Government deliver for the people of this country.”

Many inside Westminster imagine Sir Keir will face a sustained management problem after May’s native election.

Labour’s recognition has plummeted since coming into workplace, with critics slamming their report on the financial system, advantages, immigration and a collection of damaging scandals.

On Saturday, a Labour MP who backs Mr Burnham stated: “It’s happening. We are on the brink of securing a seat which is likely to come free shortly and where the polls say Andy would beat Reform.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting was additionally final week accused of undermining the PM by utilizing an interview with the New Statesman journal to criticise the “technocratic approach” of the Government, which he likened to a “maintenance department”.

Meanwhile Ms Rayner is known to be in common contact with Mr Burnham’s camp, with colleagues predicting she is more likely to kind a joint ticket with him if he turns into an MP.

She can be backing a rising rebel towards Labour’s plans to cut back jury trials, together with her allies saying that she fears Nigel Farage’s Reform UK would ‘weaponise’ the reforms towards the Government.