Sir Keir Starmer has dismissed the “personal ambitions” of Andy Burnham amid speculation that the Greater Manchester mayor could mount a leadership challenge. In a series of interventions seen as a pitch for the top job, Burnham proposed a 50p top rate of income tax and a tax cut for lower earners.
The Prime Minister drew parallels between Burnham’s economic agenda and that of Liz Truss, warning that abandoning fiscal rules would be a “disaster for working people”. Speaking to regional broadcasters ahead of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Starmer said he was “not prepared to let a Labour government ever inflict that harm on working people”.
Starmer insisted he would “lead from the front” into the next general election, describing his project as a “10-year” endeavour. He defended the Government’s record, citing five million extra NHS appointments, expanded childcare, and four interest rate cuts. He added that the Conservative Party is “basically dead” and that the next election would be a head-to-head with Reform UK.
When pressed on potential plots against him, Starmer said: “My job is not to get drawn into that. My job is to fix the problems in this country.” He declined to comment directly on Burnham’s ambitions but stressed the importance of fiscal discipline.
