Burnham could become PM on 17 July based on Labour leadership contest timetable – as it happened

Keir Starmer has recorded a pooled TV interview at an event in Milton Keynes this morning, where he was promoting the government’s Great British Summer Savings Scheme.

Asked if he would serve in an Andy Burnham government, he replied:

double quotation markLet me make my position absolutely clear.

I am stepping down after two years, leaving the country in a better position than when I found it.

I will do that with good grace, and I will do that making sure that there is an orderly transition.

I’m going to be professional. I’m going to have foremost in my mind the sense of service and duty that has driven me as prime minister.

I will continue to faithfully serve my country to make sure that any disruption is absolutely minimised. And that’s why I’m taking steps now to ensure that that can be done in a sensible way.

Starmer also said he wanted to make sure “that whatever comes next is a success”. He went on:

double quotation markI love this country, I want this country to thrive, and I shall do everything I can to make sure it’s a success and thrives. The first bit of that is making sure that there’s an orderly transition and we go on and build on the good stuff we’ve done in the first two years of this government.

Key events2m agoAfternoon summary7m agoPolanski has said prospects of Greens working with Burnham 'souring' in light of some decisions taken by next PM22m agoMake pension tax relief only available to savers prepared to invest in UK, Andy Haldane says30m agoJenrick says it is legitimate for media to ask Farage about £5m donation - which he said was none of their business54m agoBritain’s six prime ministers since 2016 – ranked!1h agoLabour's NEC confirms timetable for leadership process, with Burnham set to become PM on Friday 17 July2h agoDraft conversion practices bill will not affect 'legitimate healthcare', minister tells MPs2h agoBurnham's lead over Farage on best PM twice as big as Starmer's, poll suggests2h agoClimate activist disrupts rightwing Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference3h agoMinister rejects claim UK prioritised UAE ties over Sudan atrocity prevention3h agoBadenoch defends jibe about Bridget Phillipson, saying it's her job to 'hold her to account'5h agoStarmer claims he has left UK in 'better state' in relation to immigration5h agoMinister urges pupils to choose degree courses 'carefully', as research shows earning variations by subject5h agoUK to halve tariff-free steel imports to counter glut of cheap Chinese metal5h agoSenior Trump official delivers scathing attack on Britain in speech to rightwingers in London mocking 'Yookay'6h agoStarmer says government has been holding official-level Cobra meetings to discuss heatwave6h agoStarmer says he wants to ensure any disruption during transition to Burnham government 'absolutely minimised'6h agoLabour and Reform UK almost neck and neck in Greater Manchester mayoral contest, poll suggests7h agoReeves says she wants to see Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields approved7h agoPolanski says government needs to 'heatproof' Britain7h agoPhillipson accuses Badenoch of having her own 'unique brand of unpleasant politics' after PMQs insult8h agoReeves insists her changes to fiscal rules already allow more borrowing for defence, as Burnham urged to back 'war bonds'9h agoTrump calls Burnham a town mayor who's 'extremely liberal', complaining he's unlikely to 'open up North Sea'9h agoReeves hints she accepts Burnham will not keep her as chancellor, and won't say if she will accept more junior job

Key events

2m ago

Afternoon summary

7m ago

Polanski has said prospects of Greens working with Burnham 'souring' in light of some decisions taken by next PM

22m ago

Make pension tax relief only available to savers prepared to invest in UK, Andy Haldane says

30m ago

Jenrick says it is legitimate for media to ask Farage about £5m donation - which he said was none of their business

54m ago

Britain’s six prime ministers since 2016 – ranked!

1h ago

Labour's NEC confirms timetable for leadership process, with Burnham set to become PM on Friday 17 July

2h ago

Draft conversion practices bill will not affect 'legitimate healthcare', minister tells MPs

2h ago

Burnham's lead over Farage on best PM twice as big as Starmer's, poll suggests

2h ago

Climate activist disrupts rightwing Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference

3h ago

Minister rejects claim UK prioritised UAE ties over Sudan atrocity prevention

3h ago

Badenoch defends jibe about Bridget Phillipson, saying it's her job to 'hold her to account'

5h ago

Starmer claims he has left UK in 'better state' in relation to immigration

5h ago

Minister urges pupils to choose degree courses 'carefully', as research shows earning variations by subject

5h ago

UK to halve tariff-free steel imports to counter glut of cheap Chinese metal

5h ago

Senior Trump official delivers scathing attack on Britain in speech to rightwingers in London mocking 'Yookay'

6h ago

Starmer says government has been holding official-level Cobra meetings to discuss heatwave

6h ago

Starmer says he wants to ensure any disruption during transition to Burnham government 'absolutely minimised'

6h ago

Labour and Reform UK almost neck and neck in Greater Manchester mayoral contest, poll suggests

7h ago

Reeves says she wants to see Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields approved

7h ago

Polanski says government needs to 'heatproof' Britain

7h ago

Phillipson accuses Badenoch of having her own 'unique brand of unpleasant politics' after PMQs insult

8h ago

Reeves insists her changes to fiscal rules already allow more borrowing for defence, as Burnham urged to back 'war bonds'

9h ago

Trump calls Burnham a town mayor who's 'extremely liberal', complaining he's unlikely to 'open up North Sea'

9h ago

Reeves hints she accepts Burnham will not keep her as chancellor, and won't say if she will accept more junior job

Britain’s biggest trade union has endorsed Ed Miliband for chancellor, as the race to take over the Treasury under a potential Andy Burnham government intensifies.

Backsliding on climate action would drive the Labour party into political obscurity, Zack Polanski has warned, as trade union leaders said more drilling in the North Sea would not help UK workers.

Labour’s national executive committee has agreed the timetable for the new leadership selection process. (See 4.36pm.)

Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, has said that the prospect of the Greens working in alliance with Labour under Andy Burnham are “souring” in the light of some of the positions taken by the probable next PM. (See 5.30pm.)

Perpetrators of “conversion therapy” against LGBTQ+ people could face up to five years in prison under proposals hailed as a “historic and long overdue” milestone by campaigners.

EU nationals based permanently in the UK have expressed alarm over a Reform UK plan to target their rights to accommodation and employment, saying the policy is a betrayal of promises made in the Brexit referendum 10 years ago.

For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.

Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, has said that the prospect of the Greens working in alliance with Labour under Andy Burnham are “souring” in the light of some of the positions taken by the probable next PM.

Speaking at the BCC conference, in a Q&A after his speech (see 10.38am), Polanski referred to the well-known joke about Burnham being aligned with different factions in the Labour party. He went on:

double quotation markWe genuinely don’t know which version of Andy Burnham turns up.

I can see versions of Andy Burnham that the Green party could work with really co-operatively.

What I would say, though, is we know that Josh Simons is going to be one of his key advisers. We know that James Purnell – someone who is literally a lobbyist for private companies – I don’t believe those are people that should be advising you or be your chief of staff [if] you have anything like a progressive or socialist agenda.

So I’m still going to be making the case for the Green party. It’ll be up to Andy Burnham to make the case, if he is the leader, for the Labour party.

I’m open to that conversation. But I would say early signs are souring pretty quickly.

In particular, something that’s very important to lots of people in this country is the genocide in Gaza, which Andy Burnham refuses to recognise as a genocide.

Now, I know that won’t be important to everyone. But I think there’s a moral litmus test that if you can’t speak the truth or have moral clarity, then it’s very difficult to work with you. I think that’s a fundamental, basic thing.

Asked if refusing to recognise genocide in Gaza would be a red line that would stop the Greens working with Burnham, Polanski replied “absolutely”, along with Burnham not implementing proportional representation, or not “tackling wealth in this country”, he said.

Pension tax relief worth more than £50bn should only be offered to savers who are prepared to invest in Britain, according to Andy Haldane, the president of the British Chambers of Commerce. Phillip Inman has the story.

Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesperson, has said it is legitimate for the media to ask Nigel Farage about his undisclosed £5m donation from the crytocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.

On Tuesday, in a series of interviews on the 10th anniversary of the Brexit vote, Farage became tetchy when asked about the donation, which is now being investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards.

At one point Farage told an interviewer the donation was none of their business. In another exchange, he claimed “no one cares” about the donation, apart from the media.

Farage did concede that the parliamentary commissioner may rule that, in not declaring the donation, Farage broke Commons rules. But he refused to say what he had done with the money, and insisted there was no need to declare it because it was not linked to his political work.

At the BCC conference, asked by the host, Sophy Ridge, the Sky News presenter, if Farage was right to say people did not care about this, Jenrick replied:

double quotation markI’ve knocked on a lot of doors, trust me, in the course of the May local elections, the byelection, and in my own constituency, and I have to say, in all sincerity, not a single person has raised that question with me.

It doesn’t mean that it’s not a legitimate question for the media to ask, but it is not one that, in my experience, is on the tip of the tongue of people across the country.

Ridge said that her experience was different, and that people did want to talk to her about the donation.

Jenrick also claimed that no donor to Reform UK was able to buy influence.

John Crace has ranked the six prime ministers of the last 10 years. And he’s decided that the worst is …

Labour’s national executive committee has agreed the timetable for the new leadership selection process. Nominations will open two weeks today, and if only one candidate gets the required number of nominations from Labour MPs (20% of the PLP, or 81 MPs) they will become leader three weeks tomorrow.

The timetable also includes the relevant dates for getting affiliate (union) nominations, or PLP nominations, and for voting over August – if there is more than one candidate.

If Andy Burnham is the only candidate nominated by 81 MPs, he will still have to get nominations from at least three organisations affiliated to Labour, of which two must be unions, or from 5% of CLPs (constituency Labour parties). He could get both easily. Getting union nominations can happen more quickly, and the timetable has been drawn up on the assumption that he will get the affiliate nominations before 17 July, and there will be no need for CLP nominations.

Unless something wholly unexpected happens within the next fortnight to derail the Burnham candidacy, there won’t be another candidate, and so the August elections parts of the timetable almost certainly won’t be needed.

Here are the dates from the Labour briefing.

In January Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, announced major plans to restructure the police forces in England and Wales. She said this would include some mergers, and Bernard Hogan-Howe, the former Metropolitan police commissioner, was appointed to lead a review making specific recommendations on this issue.

Now Sam Coates at Sky News has been told that an Andy Burnham government may scrap these plans. In his report, Coates says: “We have been told that the likely incoming prime minister is not keen on combining police forces, which is currently the subject of a review by a former head of the Metropolitan police.”

A trans-inclusive conversion therapy ban will not see healthcare workers criminalised for speaking about sexuality and gender with their patients, a minister has said. The Press Association says the government has unveiled its draft conversion practices bill, designed to stop abusive attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. PA says:

double quotation markEqualities minister Olivia Bailey told the Commons: “This bill does not remove anyone’s rights to freedom of expression or religion or how to parent – this bill simply prevents abuse.

“And to ensure there is no inadvertent chilling effect on important healthcare, there is an exemption for all healthcare professionals on the face of the bill.”

She faced a question from Lisa Smart, the Liberal Democrat MP for Hazel Grove, who asked how the proposal would stop somebody setting up, for example, “a mental health charity in an attempt to circumvent the aims of this Bill”.

Bailey replied: “It is my view that legitimate healthcare would not fall under the remits of this bill in any way, shape or form, because legitimate healthcare would never be abusing somebody to try and change their identity and causing them serious harm.”

She repeated she had heard concerns a conversion therapy ban could have “a chilling effect” on healthcare.

She continued: “We don’t want that because therapy and good therapy and good conversation is really important. That’s why we put this exemption on the face of the bill.”

Here are some comments on the Greater Manchester mayoral election poll covered earlier. (See 11.26am.)

From Luke Tryl, the More in Common pollster

double quotation markHave to admit I’m surprised how low the Green share is here. Would imply significant loss of momentum since the locals and/or that prospect of Burnham is already reuniting the left. Regardless if first round is anything close to this looks like a solid Labour hold in the second

From Ben Walker, the New Statesman’s elections expert

double quotation markFocalData poll for the Greater Manchester mayoralty has Labour on 33%, Reform 30.

Compares to Ref 31% in the May council elections and Lab 23%.

Greens on 13%, down from 19.

YouGov has some polling out today that suggests Andy Burnham’s lead over Nigel Farage on who would make the best PM is twice as large as Keir Starmer’s.

Burnham is also ahead of all other main party leaders on this measure – unlike Starmer, who was beaten by Ed Davey, and level with Kemi Badenoch.

YouGov says:

double quotation markAlthough the outgoing prime minister consistently held a lead over Nigel Farage when it comes to who would do better at Downing Street, the 10-point margin Starmer holds over the Reform UK leader in our most recent figures from May is half the lead held by Burnham today.

Likewise, Burnham performs significantly better in opposition to his fellow progressive leaders. His 27-point lead over Zack Polanski compares to Starmer bettering the Green leader by just five points, while the public’s view that Burnham would be a superior PM to Ed Davey contrasts with them favouring the Lib Dem leader over Starmer by 27% to 23%.

Burnham’s 4-point advantage over Kemi Badenoch, though, represents a much smaller improvement, as Britons were evenly split 33% to 33% over whether she or Starmer would make the better PM in our May figures.

Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.

A climate activist has disrupted an international summit of rightwing politicians activists and their financial backers by infiltrating the venue and interrupting a speech.

The activist was from a group called Fossil Free London, which had been protesting outside the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship Conference (ARC) in London.

Backers of the event - encompassing social conservatives, libertarians, far right supporters and others - have included fossil companies that have also backed Donald Trump.

Keynote speakers have included Trump’s energy secretary, a former fracking executive who used a speech at ARC this week to accuse successive UK government of making a “tragic mistake” with net zero policies.

Fossil Free London said:

double quotation markARC’s mission is to enrich oil barons, tech executives and corrupt politicians, seeding backward-looking, violence-espousing narratives so people fight it out over characteristics like race and gender.

ARC said that an individual had bypassed security and entered the main stage of the conference at the Olympia, disrupting a speech by the CEO of US company Banylon Bee, Seth Dillon. “He was briefly detained while the facts were established and quickly released.”

In response to the claims against it, ARC said: “Too often we have failed to acknowlegde complex trade-offs or the reality that abundant, reliable and affordable energy are the base layer of martial civilization.”

A minister has rejected claims the Foreign Office prioritised its relationship with the United Arab Emirates over preventing “genocidal slaughter” in Sudan, the Press Association reports. PA says:

double quotation markChris Elmore said London “acted swiftly” when it learned the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group was likely to attack El Fasher, a city in western Sudan.

An RSF offensive in El Fasher killed more than 6,000 people over a three-day period last year, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at the Yale School of Public Health found in July 2023 that a “full-scale attack” by the RSF was likely. According to evidence submitted to the Commons international development committee, HRL briefed UK Foreign Office staff privately “over two dozen times” about the threat.

But according to the HRL’s executive director Nathaniel Raymond, who gave the evidence, the Foreign Office appeared to have “prioritised the government’s economic, security and diplomatic relationships with the UAE above preventing the intentional starvation, forced displacement, and the genocidal slaughter of tens of thousands of civilians living in El Fasher and its surrounding communities”.

Sarah Champion, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, has written a letter about this to the international develoment miniser, Jenny Chapman. Champion said: “This evidence was profoundly shocking and, if accurate, would be some of the most concerning accounts I have heard of Foreign Office failure to take seriously its commitments to atrocity prevention.”

In response to an urgent question in the Commons on the allegations, Elmore said: “I have to tell the house that we completely reject these claims.

“The UK acted swiftly, including on June 13 2024, when the previous government were in office, that we penned the UN security council resolution – we demanded that the RSF halt the siege on the city.”

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative cabinet minister, told MPs: “It seems that whoever comes into government, the Foreign Office’s weak policy with regards to the UAE pertains.

“Surely it is time for a British government to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough – we are going to sanction all of those individuals responsible for the decision-making in the UAE and in other countries providing arms to the rebels’. If we don’t do that, then all the talk is worthless.”

Kemi Badenoch has declined to apologise for calling Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, a “spiteful class warrior”. (See 10.20am.)

Speaking to reporters today, the Tory leader defended what she said about the education secretary at PMQs. She said:

double quotation markYesterday I said that Bridget Phillipson was spiteful and incompetent. It’s interesting that she hasn’t complained about being incompetent, and Keir Starmer didn’t say that she was competent.

Badenoch claimed Phillipson’s imposition of VAT on private schools had “displaced” 40,000 pupils through school closures or because their parents could no longer afford the fees.

And she said Phillipson had failed to deliver the extra 6,500 teachers promised in Labour’s manifesto, saying there were 2,000 fewer teachers than when the party came to power. She said:

double quotation markWe have gone backwards both years she has been education secretary. That is a failure. It is my job as leader of the opposition to hold her to account.

Badenoch also said Phillipson had been “rude” about the shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, calling him “a racist” during women and equalities questions in the Commons before PMQs.

Phillipson, who is minister for women and equalities as well as education secrtary, said Timothy had “engaged in appalling racism towards Muslims in our country”. She was referring to the way he condemned a mass prayer event held by Muslims in Trafalgar Square as “an act of domination” and “straight from the Islamist playbook”.

Read the full story at The Guardian ↗

The Labour Party's national executive committee has scheduled a leadership selection process following Keir Starmer's announcement that he will step down as prime minister after two years. Under the confirmed timetable, if Andy Burnham receives the required nominations from Labour MPs, he would become party leader and prime minister on 17 July. Starmer has stated he will facilitate an orderly transition. Polling indicates Burnham currently holds stronger public approval ratings than Starmer when compared to opposition leaders. Meanwhile, the Green Party leadership has expressed concerns about potential policy misalignments with a Burnham government, citing positions on Gaza, proportional representation, and wealth distribution. Various government departments are proceeding with policy announcements and reviews, including legislation on conversion practices, police force restructuring considerations, and energy sector discussions.

Read the full story at The Guardian ↗

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