Andy Burnham lashes out at Labour aides briefing against him

Labour infighting breaks out into open as ‘King of the North’ Andy Burnham lashes out at Keir Starmer’s team of aides ‘in their 20s or 30s who think they know it all’ for briefing against him

• Andy Burnham demands ‘some support’ from Labour HQ in his devolved role

Andy Burnham today lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer’s team as he accused young Labour aides of briefing against him and told them: ‘Leave me alone!’

The Greater Manchester mayor demanded ‘some support’ from Labour HQ as he bemoaned the actions of those ‘in their 20s or 30s who think they know it all’.

In an explosive radio interview, Mr Burnham claimed every time he announces ‘something positive’ in his devolved role a ‘negative Westminster briefing machine somehow flicks into gear’.

He also revealed he has not spoken to Sir Keir – aside from text messages – since the Labour leader delivered a speech in Manchester in February.

Mr Burnham is bidding for a third term as Greater Manchester mayor but has consistently failed to rule out another tilt at the Labour leadership during Sir Keir’s time in charge of the party.

His decision not to hide his lingering leadership ambitions has seen Mr Burnham widely dubbed Labour’s ‘King of the North’.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham demanded ‘some support’ from Labour HQ as he bemoaned the actions of those ‘in their 20s or 30s who think they know it all’.

There have been reports of tensions between Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Burnham, with recent claims the Labour leader is ‘reliably rude’ about the Greater Manchester mayor

He was quizzed about reports of tensions between himself and Sir Keir on Times Radio this morning, following recent claims that Mr Burnham is ‘one of the very few people’ the Labour leader is ‘reliably rude’ about.

It was reported this week that Sir Keir’s office has long viewed Mr Burnham as a ‘troublemaking self-publicist with designs on the leadership and too much tolerance for the left’.

Sir Keir has also made jokes at Mr Burnham’s expense at Westminster drinks events.

Asked about the reports, the Greater Manchester mayor said: ‘Somebody was briefing that, and I’m not sure if it came from Keir.

‘All I know is whenever I go out there with something positive, the negative Westminster briefing machine somehow flicks into gear.

‘All I’d say is leave me alone. I’ve been out there being supportive of the party and working for a majority Labour government, as everyone is, but I’m doing my thing. 

‘I’m building a really powerful positive agenda for Greater Manchester.

‘To have the kind of old ways of Westminster trying to cut across that with their negative briefing and their insecurity, I honestly don’t know what purpose they think it serves.

‘But it is what it is. I’m out today putting forward a positive policy that I think Labour voters, ex-Labour voters, Tory voters across the country will probably say, yeah, this is needed.

‘And it would be nice to have some support from a national level.’

But Mr Burnham denied that he would be unhappy with Sir Keir becoming prime minister after the next general election.

‘I’m very happy about that prospect, I’ve said so repeatedly. I’ve also said I’m here to support in any way I can,’ he said.

‘And I think I am supporting by putting forward policies that people can connect with.’

The Greater Manchester mayor also suggested it was not Sir Keir or the shadow cabinet briefing against him but ‘unelected people in their 20s or 30s who think they know it all and they’re the kind of bee’s knees etc’. 

‘They go around sort of briefing against elected politicians,’ he said.

‘It’s just what Westminster does and I think it’s one of the unattractive sides of Westminster politics.

‘I think they need to leave a bit of that aside and get on with kind of conveying positive messages to the public and building a sense of team.’

Mr Burnham added, prior to New Labour’s 1997 general election landslide win, there was ‘ a sense of all parts of the party pulling pulling together’.

‘These anonymous briefers need to go back to that and learn from that and make sure, as we build from here, we’ve got all sides of the party involved, respected and pulling together for a Labour majority government,’ he said.

Mr Burnham insisted he was ‘fully supporting’ Sir Keir, adding:  I’m standing for a third term as mayor of Greater Manchester.

‘I want to seek Keir as PM, I want to see a majority Labour government.

‘I don’t see what’s unclear about that. And, you know, I just think  people who are purveying the negativity need to put that to one side.’

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