Politics latest: Starmer accused of using Brexit to sabotage Burnham after suggesting UK could rejoin EU

One of Sir Keir Starmer’s closest allies has said that the upcoming Makerfield by-election is “unnecessary” and referred to it as a “risk”.

Pat McFadden told broadcasters: “Look, any unnecessary by-election is always a risk. It’s the voters who have their say.

“But like any by-election that is called, for whatever reason, I want Labour to win. I want to see a Labour MP for that seat. And that’s what we’ll all be working for between now and polling day in the by-election.”

When asked about Mr Burnham’s claims on Monday that “the by-election is very necessary” because politics “doesn’t work” for those in the north, the cabinet minister replied: “Well, of course the sitting MP chose to resign, that’s always a risk to do.

“But now that it’s been called, we will fight to win the by-election for Labour.”

Minister Dan Jarvis said Labour needs to listen to the message delivered by voters in the local elections and act, when asked if his party needs to change.

Asked about Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s comments that “Labour needs to change if we are to regain people’s trust”, Mr Jarvis told LBC: “Well, I think the prime minister has acknowledged that the recent election results provide a critique on the performance of the Government.

“So, yes, we do need to make sure that we are delivering on the priorities of the people. The prime minister’s absolutely focused on that.

“He’s getting on with his job.

“My responsibilities are around national security and I know that the prime minister takes these things incredibly seriously.

“I’ve been working with him on matters relating to national security, but the priority has to be delivering for the public.

“We have to listen to what people have told us over the past couple of weeks and we have to act upon it.”

Whatever comradeship and fraternal fealty remain within Labour, the debate that has suddenly ignited in the party about Britain rejoining the European Union is hardly helping it.

Two men who actually agree on that eventual goal, Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham, have fallen into a tedious briefing war about whether raising this distant prospect right now is a cynical plot by Mr Streeting to undermine Mr Burnham’s chances of winning the Makerfield by-election, and thus the Labour leadership.

Mr Streeting claim that he is simply pointing out the lasting consequences of the “catastrophic mistake” the nation as a whole made in 2016, and that it cannot be ignored.

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Government minister Dan Jarvis has ruled out running to be the next Mayor of Greater Manchester if Andy Burnham resigns to return to Parliament.

The national security minister was the elected as the first Mayor of South Yorkshire in 2018, working alongside Mr Burnham as a regional mayor.

Asked on Tuesday if he would consider returning to the role in Manchester as he had experience, he told Sky News: “On the other side of the Pennines.

“My job as the National Security Minister keeps me very busy, and that is my only focus.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said unemployment figures are “encouraging” amid the impact of the Iran war on the labour market.

He said: “Today’s figures show there were 416,000 more people in work than there was this time last year. While this is encouraging, we know the conflict in the Middle East is casting a shadow on the labour market.

“However, thanks to the choices we have made, we are in a stronger position to deal with the continuing volatility and costs of the war in Iran with our economy ranking as the fastest growing of any European G7 country last year.

“Boosting opportunity and tackling youth unemployment in every area remains our priority, and through our jobs guarantee we are helping young people into work while engaging employers to ensure they have the skilled workforce that they need.”

A government minister has insisted the “whole Labour family” will get behind the party’s candidate in Makerfield – even if it’s Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership rival Andy Burnham.

Security minister Dan Jarvis praised Mr Burnham’s “outstanding record of achievement as the mayor of Greater Manchester.

“Whoever the candidate is in MakerField, the whole Labour family will get behind that candidate,” he told Sky News.

“And we’ll all be knocking on doors in Makerfield to make sure that we return the Labour MP to make sure that we beat Reform.”

Downing Street did not rule out the prospect of Labour pledging to rejoin the EU ahead of the next election, while Sir Keir Starmer has also raised the prospect in what has been seen as a move to undermine Andy Burnham.

The prime minister said that a debate on Brexit “might happen years down the line”.

Meanwhile, the Greater Manchester mayor has attempted to distance himself from his Remain stance, given that he is standing in the Makerfield by-election which has a vote-Leave supporter base.

Speaking at the Great North summit in Leeds on Monday, he said he “respects” Brexit and told the crowd: “Britain will be stuck in a permanent rut if we’re just constantly arguing and people are pulling away from each other.”

Sir Keir Starmer will assemble his new-look Cabinet for the first time on Tuesday after insisting again that he would not “walk away” from Downing Street.

Tuesday’s regular Cabinet meeting will be the first since Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary and called on the Prime Minister to quit last week.

It also follows Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s announcement that he intends to fight the Makerfield by-election.

The rate of UK unemployment rose to 5 per cent in the three months to March, up from 4.9 per cent in the three months to February, the Office for National Statistics said.

Meanwhile in a positive for Reeves, UK average regular earnings growth fell to 3.4 per cent in the three months to March and was 0.3 per cent higher after taking Consumer Prices Index inflation into account,