Keir Starmer has defended his party's decision to block Andy Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection, sparking widespread criticism from within Labour ranks.
The Prime Minister claimed that allowing Burnham to stand would divert resources away from more pressing elections, including local councils, which are crucial for addressing the cost of living crisis. Starmer also emphasized the need to focus on fighting Reform UK rather than internal divisions within the party.
However, many Labour MPs and union leaders have expressed outrage at the decision, with some accusing the party leadership of "petty factionalism". Unison union head Andrea Egan described the move as "blatant gerrymandering" that would not be effective in changing public opinion.
Senior Labour figures, including Ed Miliband, Sadiq Khan, and Lucy Powell, had called for Burnham to be allowed to stand in the byelection. Meanwhile, Burnham himself has vowed to support whoever is selected to fight the seat vacated by Andrew Gwynne, but a recent tweet from his account seemed to predict that Labour would now lose the election.
The decision has left many wondering about the motivations behind it and whether the party leadership was trying to silence one of its own. As tensions within the party continue to simmer, Starmer's response has done little to quell the dissent among MPs and union leaders.
The Prime Minister claimed that allowing Burnham to stand would divert resources away from more pressing elections, including local councils, which are crucial for addressing the cost of living crisis. Starmer also emphasized the need to focus on fighting Reform UK rather than internal divisions within the party.
However, many Labour MPs and union leaders have expressed outrage at the decision, with some accusing the party leadership of "petty factionalism". Unison union head Andrea Egan described the move as "blatant gerrymandering" that would not be effective in changing public opinion.
Senior Labour figures, including Ed Miliband, Sadiq Khan, and Lucy Powell, had called for Burnham to be allowed to stand in the byelection. Meanwhile, Burnham himself has vowed to support whoever is selected to fight the seat vacated by Andrew Gwynne, but a recent tweet from his account seemed to predict that Labour would now lose the election.
The decision has left many wondering about the motivations behind it and whether the party leadership was trying to silence one of its own. As tensions within the party continue to simmer, Starmer's response has done little to quell the dissent among MPs and union leaders.
... allowing burnham to run for gorton denton byelection would've brought some badly needed attention to labour but now its just gonna be about internal party drama 
... reform uk might be a bigger threat to labour than burnham's local campaign 
meanwhile union leaders like egan r speaking truth... i'm starting to think starmer's more concerned with maintaining his own power struggle than actually fighting for the people 
starmer is gettin roasted 4 blockin burnham from runnin in a byelection... like what's goin on? its so petty factionalism i no, but u gotta wonder if its just about silencin burnham. ed miliband, sadiq khan, and lucy powell all said he shd b allowed 2 stand, but starmer is all "nope" 
and now ppl r gettin mad 
union head anderson egan says its gerrymandering lol. cant wait 2 c how this plays out in the election 
. starmer's all like "let's focus on reform uk" but it sounds like he's just trying to keep the party in line 
. and whats with the gerrymandering talk? that's just a fancy way of sayin "we're trying to rig the system" 
. anyway, this whole thing is just a huge mess 
like what's up with blocking Burnham from standing? That decision seems super petty and factional 
#LabourPowerStruggle #GerrymanderingExposure Starmer needs to focus on the real issues, not just trying to silence his own people 
so he blocks Burnham from runnin in byelection? thats like tryna take away a chair from a member of ur own team lol! cant u just let ppl make there own decisions? 
. Burnham being blocked from standing in a local byelection just seems super petty and factional for Labour, you feel? It's like they're trying to control the narrative instead of letting their own people do their jobs 
. And now we're seeing this blatant factionalism from Starmer and Co. It's just so... typical of Labour politics 
Meanwhile, the rest of us are over here thinking "can't they just be done with each other already?"