Andy Burnham should move to challenge Keir Starmer as early as next Monday, Brian Leishman MP says
The Labour MP said there is no time to waste
Labour MP Brian Leishman has said Andy Burnham should “get signed in on Monday” and move quickly to launch a challenge against Keir Starmer.
He said Burnham is “the best bet we’ve got at winning the next election”, and called him “a skillful operator” and “great political communicator”.
The MP for Alloa and Grangemouth said that “time is of the essence” and that “the country needs change”.
“When the country needs change, the more things that need change, the more radical you’ve got to be. Let’s get going,” he said.
Leishman, who was suspended by Starmer for four months for voting against the government’s disability benefit cuts, said that he was “banking on him [Burnham] being less authoritarian”.
He added that Burnham has to tackle inequality, “We’ve got to look at corporations and the multi-millionaire and billionaire class paying their way”, adding that revenue could be raised by equalising capital gains tax and an annual wealth tax.
Asked about Burnham’s comments backing Shabana Mahmood’s hardline changes to indefinite leave to remain, Leishman says: “We’ve got to talk about how we reform the country in many different ways, I think that’s one of the things.”
However, he added: “We’ve got to be looking after some of the most vulnerable, disadvantaged people not just from the United Kingdom but from all over the world.”
He also said there is “no doubt” that immigration enriches the country, citing the example of migrants working in the health and social care sectors.
“So whatever we do, we’ve got to do it in a compassionate manner,” he said.
Asked about Reform’s campaign in Makerfield, Leishman said: “I think Reform has got an easy message to sell to people who are feeling massively disenfranchised.”
He said that is why it’s important for him and other Labour MPs to get Labour into the position it should be in, “because when we look at left-wing political solutions, those are the solutions that people need”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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