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| Burnham accuses Labour factions of 'circling the Corbyn wagon' | Burnham accuses Labour factions of 'circling the Corbyn wagon' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham has accused factions on the right of the party of “circling the wagon” of rival Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign, saying their public criticisms of the most leftwing candidate risk dividing the party. | The Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham has accused factions on the right of the party of “circling the wagon” of rival Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign, saying their public criticisms of the most leftwing candidate risk dividing the party. |
| Burnham was speaking after a row broke out between his and Yvette Cooper’s campaign teams as they competed to show they were best placed to gain sufficient second-preference votes to prevent Corbyn from succeeding Ed Miliband. | Burnham was speaking after a row broke out between his and Yvette Cooper’s campaign teams as they competed to show they were best placed to gain sufficient second-preference votes to prevent Corbyn from succeeding Ed Miliband. |
| As Labour members and supporters receive their ballot papers, a string of warnings have emerged that a Corbyn victory could split the party or turn it into a mere pressure group. They have come from former Labour politicians including Tony Blair, Neil Kinnock, Jack Straw, Gordon Brown and – most recently – David Miliband. | |
| “Factionalism doesn’t just exist on the left does it?” Burnham said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday. “If you then get the right of the party behaving in that way, that’s when you get real trouble and that’s the risk we’ve got at the moment: that there are some in the party all circling the wagon against Jeremy’s campaign. We don’t want to see that. | |
| “This party needs to unite coming out of this race and some of the language now needs to be considered, more considered than it is, because if you fuel this negativity and these warnings you just push these two camps apart and you know what happened last time Labour was more interested in fighting itself in the 1980s, it left the pitch clear for Margaret Thatcher to bulldoze her way through Labour communities up and down the country.” | “This party needs to unite coming out of this race and some of the language now needs to be considered, more considered than it is, because if you fuel this negativity and these warnings you just push these two camps apart and you know what happened last time Labour was more interested in fighting itself in the 1980s, it left the pitch clear for Margaret Thatcher to bulldoze her way through Labour communities up and down the country.” |
| Related: Martin Rowson on the Labour leadership contest ballots – cartoon | Related: Martin Rowson on the Labour leadership contest ballots – cartoon |
| Asked if he thought Corbyn could be prime minister, Burnham said: “I don’t know whether Jeremy wants to be prime minister, but he’s saying things that people are responding to … He started by saying that he wanted to produce a debate, that’s why he came into the race.” | Asked if he thought Corbyn could be prime minister, Burnham said: “I don’t know whether Jeremy wants to be prime minister, but he’s saying things that people are responding to … He started by saying that he wanted to produce a debate, that’s why he came into the race.” |
| On Monday, Burnham’s campaign chief accused Cooper of clinging on in the contest “out of pride”. Michael Dugher, who is also the shadow transport secretary, said Cooper’s team should stop talking up the possibility of her becoming leader, arguing that “the Yvette campaign remains in complete denial as to the fact that they cannot possibly win”. | On Monday, Burnham’s campaign chief accused Cooper of clinging on in the contest “out of pride”. Michael Dugher, who is also the shadow transport secretary, said Cooper’s team should stop talking up the possibility of her becoming leader, arguing that “the Yvette campaign remains in complete denial as to the fact that they cannot possibly win”. |
| In response, a spokesman for the shadow home secretary accused Burnham’s campaign of “old-style bullying from the boys” and said it was he who needed to “step back and leave it to Yvette” if he was not prepared to offer an alternative to Corbyn. | In response, a spokesman for the shadow home secretary accused Burnham’s campaign of “old-style bullying from the boys” and said it was he who needed to “step back and leave it to Yvette” if he was not prepared to offer an alternative to Corbyn. |
| A senior source in the Burnham camp also accused Cooper of using tactics “out of the Ed Balls playbook”, in reference to her husband. One of Cooper’s backers, Seema Malhotra, told the rival team to stop “resorting to sexist lines”. | A senior source in the Burnham camp also accused Cooper of using tactics “out of the Ed Balls playbook”, in reference to her husband. One of Cooper’s backers, Seema Malhotra, told the rival team to stop “resorting to sexist lines”. |
| Dugher, who backed Balls for leader in 2010, told the Guardian: “The stakes are desperately high with the future electability of the Labour party now in mortal danger. History will not be kind to those who appear to cling on out of pride when the situation really is quite hopeless. It’s time now to rally behind the only person in this contest who can beat Jeremy Corbyn and that is very clearly Andy Burnham.” | Dugher, who backed Balls for leader in 2010, told the Guardian: “The stakes are desperately high with the future electability of the Labour party now in mortal danger. History will not be kind to those who appear to cling on out of pride when the situation really is quite hopeless. It’s time now to rally behind the only person in this contest who can beat Jeremy Corbyn and that is very clearly Andy Burnham.” |
| Neither Burnham nor Cooper have definitively emerged as Corbyn’s main challenger. It is understood Cooper rejected pressure from senior Labour figures last week for both her and Liz Kendall to drop out. There are also reports that Peter Mandelson was involved in an aborted plan to try to get all three to withdraw and halt the contest. | Neither Burnham nor Cooper have definitively emerged as Corbyn’s main challenger. It is understood Cooper rejected pressure from senior Labour figures last week for both her and Liz Kendall to drop out. There are also reports that Peter Mandelson was involved in an aborted plan to try to get all three to withdraw and halt the contest. |
| Cooper’s team said their data showed she was picking up around 60% of Burnham’s second-preference votes and 90% of those from Kendall supporters. They also claimed Burnham was in fourth place in London and the south-east, and was behind Cooper in “almost every region of the country”. | Cooper’s team said their data showed she was picking up around 60% of Burnham’s second-preference votes and 90% of those from Kendall supporters. They also claimed Burnham was in fourth place in London and the south-east, and was behind Cooper in “almost every region of the country”. |
| Burnham said on Tuesday he had consistently tried to keep his campaign positive: “Only yesterday morning I was praising all the other candidates in my speech, so I find [comments from Cooper’s team] disappointing, but actually quite strange given that all the other leadership camps all agree – and they’ve gone on the record to say this – that I’m in second place.” | Burnham said on Tuesday he had consistently tried to keep his campaign positive: “Only yesterday morning I was praising all the other candidates in my speech, so I find [comments from Cooper’s team] disappointing, but actually quite strange given that all the other leadership camps all agree – and they’ve gone on the record to say this – that I’m in second place.” |
| Burnham said in a speech in Manchester on Monday that there was “a good deal of common ground” between him and Corbyn, complimenting his rival candidate for bringing “real energy” to the race. | Burnham said in a speech in Manchester on Monday that there was “a good deal of common ground” between him and Corbyn, complimenting his rival candidate for bringing “real energy” to the race. |
| Corbyn, who held a campaign event in Ealing on Monday night, promised to involve Burnham in his team from day one, if he was willing. | Corbyn, who held a campaign event in Ealing on Monday night, promised to involve Burnham in his team from day one, if he was willing. |
| On Monday, Liam Byrne, a key Cooper supporter and shadow universities minister, criticised Burnham for his overtures to Corbyn supporters. “The fact he has said he would give Jeremy a senior job … It means that Andy’s argument about uniting the party is shot to pieces. | On Monday, Liam Byrne, a key Cooper supporter and shadow universities minister, criticised Burnham for his overtures to Corbyn supporters. “The fact he has said he would give Jeremy a senior job … It means that Andy’s argument about uniting the party is shot to pieces. |
| “There’s a whole section of the party that says: ‘What are you talking about? There’s no way am I sitting in cabinet with Jeremy Corbyn. What would we do when the Trident vote comes up, and air strikes in Syria? The shadow cabinet would be in disarray.’ The argument has definitely got clearer and people definitely respect the fact Yvette is prepared to challenge him rather than copy him.” | “There’s a whole section of the party that says: ‘What are you talking about? There’s no way am I sitting in cabinet with Jeremy Corbyn. What would we do when the Trident vote comes up, and air strikes in Syria? The shadow cabinet would be in disarray.’ The argument has definitely got clearer and people definitely respect the fact Yvette is prepared to challenge him rather than copy him.” |
| A spokeswoman for Cooper said it was “desperate stuff” from Burnham. | A spokeswoman for Cooper said it was “desperate stuff” from Burnham. |
| “Labour’s chances of winning the next election are at stake here, with serious consequences for all those who depend on a Labour government. Andy needs to show some leadership and be clear whether he opposes Jeremy or not,” she said. | “Labour’s chances of winning the next election are at stake here, with serious consequences for all those who depend on a Labour government. Andy needs to show some leadership and be clear whether he opposes Jeremy or not,” she said. |
| “Our figures show he will drop out in the second round because his campaign is failing to provide an effective alternative to Jeremy and he is losing first-preference [votes] as a consequence. If he isn’t prepared to offer an alternative to Jeremy, he needs to step back and leave it to Yvette. And he should do the right thing by the party and tell people who do still support him to put second preferences for Yvette – something he is still refusing to do.” | “Our figures show he will drop out in the second round because his campaign is failing to provide an effective alternative to Jeremy and he is losing first-preference [votes] as a consequence. If he isn’t prepared to offer an alternative to Jeremy, he needs to step back and leave it to Yvette. And he should do the right thing by the party and tell people who do still support him to put second preferences for Yvette – something he is still refusing to do.” |
| With Burnham and Cooper at an impasse, a Kendall campaign source said their data suggested Cooper “doesn’t have the numbers to beat Jeremy”. | With Burnham and Cooper at an impasse, a Kendall campaign source said their data suggested Cooper “doesn’t have the numbers to beat Jeremy”. |
| An MP in the Corbyn team told the Guardian it was now a two-horse race between the frontrunner and Burnham, and that it would be much tighter than people were assuming. | An MP in the Corbyn team told the Guardian it was now a two-horse race between the frontrunner and Burnham, and that it would be much tighter than people were assuming. |
| As the rows between other candidates roll on, Corbyn will on Tuesday unveil his plans to bring the railways back into public ownership. He has said that as one of the first moves of a Corbyn government, he would introduce a railways act in 2020 and run them in the public interest in line with social, economic and environmental goals. | As the rows between other candidates roll on, Corbyn will on Tuesday unveil his plans to bring the railways back into public ownership. He has said that as one of the first moves of a Corbyn government, he would introduce a railways act in 2020 and run them in the public interest in line with social, economic and environmental goals. |
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