Steve Reed: ‘The public do not want a general election’
At the start of this week, Keir Starmer announced that he would be standing down as prime minister. This morning, on Sky News, Trevor Phillips asked Housing Secretary Steve Reed if Andy Burnham will be the next in line. Reed said he and most of his Labour colleagues want Burnham to take over, and the transition should be conducted in as ‘orderly and smooth a way as it can be’. Phillips noted that Burnham would become the seventh prime minister since John Major to take office without being elected, and asked if there should be a general election. Reed claimed that polls suggest the ‘vast majority’ of the public do not want an election, and they want the government to ‘get on with the job’.
James Cleverly: Instability of governments ‘not good for us on the world stage’
Trevor Phillips also spoke to shadow housing secretary James Cleverly, and wondered if the Conservatives do not want an election, because of their substantial defeat in Makerfield. Cleverly pointed out that the Tories had won the by-election in Aberdeen South, and argued that Burnham is popular because he has not had to make any difficult decisions yet. Phillips asked whether, as a matter of principle, the country should be changing prime ministers without elections. Cleverly said he had disagreed with previous calls for the Conservatives to trigger a general election when changing leader, but he argued that unstable governments were harming the country’s reputation on the world stage.
James Cleverly: Shabana Mahmood’s new immigration proposals are a ‘very big step to the left’
Trevor Phillips asked Cleverly whether the Home Secretary’s proposal to increase the length of time before migrants can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) might damage integration in the country. Cleverly said he did not think that was the case, and called for a more ‘proactive’ approach to integration, such as teaching English to migrants. He said that Mahmood has done positive things as Home Secretary, but was now moving to the left, ‘desperately trying to ingratiate [herself]’ with Andy Burnham. Phillips asked Cleverly if he was referring to proposals for group sponsorship of refugees. Cleverly said that the Conservatives support a ‘well-regulated refugee system’, but he criticised the belief on the left that increasing the amount of legal immigration routes reduces illegal immigration.
Lucy Powell: Devolution central to Andy Burnham’s agenda
Speaking to the BBC, Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell told Victoria Derbyshire that she shared Andy Burnham’s frustration about the ‘lost opportunity’ of local areas not being granted more powers. Powell said that devolution is part of Labour’s manifesto, but it has not been realised at the scale and speed required. She argued that Manchester could take better advantage of its fast growth if it had more control over ‘skills and local transportation’, and said Burnham wants communities around the country to ‘seize power for themselves’.
Tony Radakin: ‘It’s the Moscow test’
Keir Starmer is set to commit an extra £1 billion to the defence budget, but critics still say it is nowhere near enough. Laura Kuenssberg spoke to former chief of the defence staff Tony Radakin, who said that much more money is required to modernise Britain’s defence capabilities, and that the budget for the day to day running of the armed forces is ‘too bare’. Kuenssberg asked what Radakin’s advice to Andy Burnham would be. Radakin said that Burnham had to act like a ‘wartime prime minister’, and present strength to Russia and the UK’s Nato allies. He said there is a risk that Britain falls short on its commitments, and that complicates its relationship with the US.
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