Was Labour right to block Andy Burnham’s return as an MP? | Letters

The argument that it would be too costly to run a mayoral election in Manchester and run the risk of its being won by Reform UK is perfectly valid (‘Huge mistake’: Labour in turmoil as Burnham blocked from byelection race, 25 January). The problem is that that is not how the decision of the Labour party’s national executive committee will be read. And this is now a pattern.Kicking off with the foolhardy acceptance of luxury goodies from Lord Alli, fast followed by the removal of pensioners’ winter fuel payments and going on to a failure to read the runes over the grooming gangs and many other depressing own goals, this government has demonstrated a quite astonishing lack of self-awareness.Keir Starmer is now beginning to resemble, of all unlikely people, Boris Johnson in his seeming inability to grasp how badly some of his decisions – and subsequent reversals – reflect on him

‘It could be a shoe or a stick’: Sajid Javid on being beaten by his father, petty crime – and turning his life around

As a young teenager, Javid and his brother were caught stealing from slot machines, arrested and held in a cell. His future hung in the balance. How did he get from there to the top of UK politics?In 2019, when Sajid Javid was home secretary, he spoke about growing up on “the most dangerous street in Britain” and said how easy it would have been to fall into a life of crime. Fortunately, he said, he managed to avoid trouble. But it turns out that Javid was being a little economical with the truth

Greens launch major push for Gorton and Denton after Burnham blocked

The Greens are set to stage an all-out fight to win the upcoming Gorton and Denton byelection, with officials in the party arguing they have a real chance of victory after Andy Burnham was barred from applying to be the Labour candidate.The Greens came third in the seat in the general election, nearly 14,000 votes behind Andrew Gwynne, the sitting MP who stepped down last week. But they plan to flood the constituency with activists in the hope of persuading locals they are the party more likely to defeat Reform UK.While it is up to the local Greens to decide a candidate, it is expected that they could field Hannah Spencer, leader of the Green group on Trafford council, who stood against Burnham in the 2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election.Defeat to the Greens, or a sufficiently high Green vote to allow a Reform win, would be a major blow to Keir Starmer, as well as significant embarrassment after he moved to ensure Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, could not stand

Tories withdraw ‘mental health’ briefing about Suella Braverman after former Tory home secretary joins Reform – UK politics live

Suella Braverman has defected to Reform UK, the third sitting Conservative MP to join Nigel Farage’s party in little more than a week.Keir Starmer has defended Labour’s decision to block Andy Burnham from standing for parliament, a move which has triggered a major backlash against the prime minister from sections of his own party.Reform UK would slash what it calls “highly dubious” environmental protection measures to help fund a £2bn cut to income tax in Scotland if it won May’s Holyrood elections, the party has said.Jenny Chapman, the development minister, has is drawing up plans to scrap the UK’s aid watchdog, prompting concerns that the government is attempting to escape scrutiny while implementing “brutal” cuts.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

Suella makes the ultimate sacrifice as she ditches Tories for Reform | John Crace

That noise? The sound of the barrel getting scraped. Only last summer, Reform insiders were briefing the rightwing media that the party would never welcome Suella Braverman into its ranks. Too much baggage. Too out of control. Reform wasn’t a convalescent home for disgraced and failed Tory MPs

On Labour’s soft left, the question isn’t whether to challenge Starmer, but when

A spectre is haunting the most ambitious politicians in Labour – the question of timing. If you hope one day to become prime minister, you could blink and miss your moment.Andy Burnham clearly believed he did not have much time. But now he might have longer than he thought.Labour’s powerful soft left caucus currently has no candidate who is ready to challenge the prime minister