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Burnham claims he is ‘completely committed’ to his Greater Manchester mayoral jobQ: What would you do if an MP offered to make a parliamentary seat available to you?Burnham said he would not answer a hypothetical question.He went back to his point about wanting to see a plan for the government, and about that mattering more than personalities.Q: But if Keir Starmer read your comments, he would feel miffed. He would think you were undermining him. What do you say to that?Burnham said he would say only a few days ago he was working “hard behind the scenes to land the Hillsborough law”, to get the plans in a form that would be acceptable to the families.He said people do not feel the government is on their side.That is what the party needs to do, “before you talk about any personality”.Q: What would you say to people in Manchester who say you are not focused on the city any more?Burnham said he would say he is here.
I would say to [callers to the programme] I’m here because I’m focused on here, and I’m about to take all of your calls, as I did last week.
And I am working, as I’ve always done, in dealing with the issues that affect people here. And I think that commitment I make to this programme is proof of that.
And I love everything about this job. I love what’s happening here in Greater Manchester. I’m completely committed to it.
ShareKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureUnison and GMB back Bridget Phillipson for deputy Labour leaderTwo of the biggest unions affiliated to Labour, Unison and the GMB, have backed Bridget Phillipson for deputy leader of the party.Explaining why they were backing Phillipson, the education secretary, Linda Hobson, chair of Unison’s Labour link committee, said:
The Labour party was fortunate to have two such strong candidates standing for deputy leader.
Bridget will be a strong, persuasive and passionate voice at the top of the party to help steer the change that people voted for.
She has a clear understanding of unions and will be a powerful voice for Unison members working across public services.
And Gary Smith, GMB general secretary, said:
We are pleased to nominate Bridget Phillipson for Labour deputy leader.
We’re proud that she’s been a GMB member for 20 years.
GMB represents more than 100,000 school support staff.
Labour’s pledge to reinstate the School Support Staff Negotiating Body is vital in delivering a fairer playing field of wages and qualifications for people who have been undervalued for far too long.
Union endorsements can have some influence in Labour leadership contest, but the impact is limited because union members who get a vote are under no obligation to vote in line with the recommendation from their union executive.According to one count, Phillipson’s rival Lucy Powell, the former Commons leader, is ahead in terms of nominations from CLPs (constituency Labour parties).Phillipson is seen as the candidate favoured by No 10, while Powell is picking up support from members who have some concerns about Keir Starmer’s leadership.ShareNHS will need to pay more for drugs to stop pharma companies leaving UK, science minister Patrick Vallance suggestsAn increase in the price the NHS pays for medicines will be “necessary” to prevent pharmaceutical investments from continuing to leave the UK, science minister Patrick Vallance has said. PA Media says:
Major firms have shelved or paused planned UK pharmaceutical industry investments this year, and industry bosses recently told MPs a “difficult” environment and pressure on pricing had made Britain a less attractive investment environment than other countries such as the US.
US-based drugmaker Merck said its UK operation will scrap plans for a £1bn site in London’s Kings Cross which had been due to open in 2027, impacting around 125 jobs, with bosses blaming the Government for paying too little for medicines and not investing enough in the sector.
Days later, AstraZeneca announced it had paused plans to invest £200m at a Cambridge research site.
Vallance told the BBC, in an interview aired on its Today programme, that “day by day” discussions are happening with the industry and the US to find a solution “that’s right for innovation, right for getting companies into the UK, and right for patients in the NHS”.
He said: “I’ve got no doubt we’ll come to some arrangement which gets to the right position on this, because we have to – I think price increases are going to be a necessary part of what we need to do to get to a solution which will benefit patients.”
It is for the health secretary and chancellor to decide where the money comes from, he added.
ShareFarage steps up calls for Bank of England to halt bond salesNigel Farage, the Reform Uk leader, has stepped up calls for the Bank of England to halt bond sales and cut the interest it pays to UK banks, after a meeting with its governor, Andrew Bailey. Heather Stewart has the story.ShareBurnham says two-child benefit cap ‘absolutely abhorrent’, as pressure grows for Starmer to scrap itWe have just launched a Guardian video in which Terri White looks at child poverty, and the case for getting rid of the two-child benefit cap. It includes an interview with Andy Burnham in which he says:
I never supported its introduction. It can’t be defended, because it’s arbitrary. Why does the third kid just get cut out, or get less, or why do all three, if you’ve got three kids – I’m one of three kids.
It’s absolutely abhorrent. It cannot be justified. It is the worst of Westminster.
Raising kids in poverty: The UK’s ‘inhumane’ two child limitBurnham’s comments have come out as more than 100 Labour MPs have signed a letter to the chancellor urging her to scrap the two-child benefit cap. PA Media says:
Getting rid of the cap could be paid for with a “targeted levy on harmful online gambling products”, which would “support the government’s manifesto pledge to reduce gambling-related harm and enable vital action to alleviate child poverty”, the MPs wrote.
They argued that the UK’s effective tax rate on remote gambling “is significantly lower than in many comparable jurisdictions”.
Betting companies “remain highly profitable”, they said, while employing relatively few people and often basing operations offshore to lower their tax bills.
Consumer spend on gambling brings little value to the UK economy as a whole, they added.
The parliamentarians cited a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, backed by former prime minister Gordon Brown, which said reforms to gambling levies could generate the £3.2bn needed to scrap the two-child limit and benefit cap.
ITV’s Joel Hills has more on this story here.Share’My head is here’ – Burnham tells Manchester, despite leadership talk, he’s committed to cityBurnham ended his phone-in saying:
My head is here [Manchester]. I just want everyone listening to know that.
ShareBurnham criticises media for not challenging Reform UK over ‘false promises’ that made about immigration during BrexitIn his BBC Radio Manchester phone-in Andy Burnham also attacked Reform UK over Brexit. He said:
The people who lead Reform are the leading voices that said Brexit would solve everything when it comes to immigration.
They made that promise to the country, didn’t they? They stood there and they said that, as well as it would save X amount of money for the NHS.
So here we are 10 years on and I would say immigration control is weaker because of what they proposed, the false promises they made 10 years ago at that referendum.
They weakened immigration control because they weakened our collaboration with the rest of Europe.
And what they actually did was they replaced the type of immigration we had from Europe, which was more short-term immigration, with a different type of of long term immigration.
So when are they actually … going to accept some responsibility for the situation that they have created?
Burnham also criticised the media for not challenging Reform UK over this.
I don’t see the media holding Reform, its leadership, to account on those issues. I don’t hear the challenge being made to Mr Farage and Mr Tice when they come on and put these big things out around immigration, that would actually cause quite a lot of concern to a lot of British families. Where is the challenge back to them?
ShareBurnham condemns Reform UK’s plan to end indefinite leave to remainAsked what he thought of the Reform UK plan to end indefinite leave to remain, Burnham said that he did not think these plans were fair to people who have been living in the UK for a long time. His wife was from Holland, he said.He said he did not think Reform had thought this through.He went on:
Do they really think it’s it’s fair to deny rights to people who’ve been here a long time, who were settled here, and who have paid taxes for many, for many years?
I think that’s starting to take Britain to a different place, to be honest, to the place we’ve been before.
ShareBurnham says Home Office spending on taxis for asylum seekers as revealed by BBC not acceptableSweeney asked Burnham about the revelation from a BBC investigation this week that the Home Office is spending large sums on taxis for asylum seekers. In one case, the Home Office spent £600 on a 250-mile taxi journey for an asylum seeker visiting a GP where they were previously staying.Burnham said he had not seen the BBC report. But, when it was explained to him, he said this was wrong. He said:
I don’t consider that acceptable because that isn’t obviously what’s available to to everybody else. And I don’t understand why that would be done.
ShareThe next question for Andy Burnham came from a woman with a complaint about a change to the bus route she uses for work. Burnham responde sympathetically and knowledgeably. In his New Statesman interview published yesterday, Tom McTague described Burnham taking part in one of these weekly radio shows. His description sums up well what we are hearing today.
Burnham faces a few questions from the presenter about his political ambitions, but for almost every caller, the main issues are much more prosaic: closed bus routes and disabled parking, new train stations and Right to Buy. I picture a medieval king receiving petitions from his people.
Andy Burnham doing his BBC Radio Manchester phone in Photograph: BBCShareBurnham says it’s ‘disappointing’ that proposed new Manchester-Liverpool rail line being delayedSweeney asked about Northern Powerhouse Rail, and reports it is being shelved again.Burnham said these reports were “disappointing”.He said he thought Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, wanted the north to deliver on its ambitions.But he said it felt as if projects in the south get priority.
It feels always that projects in the southern half the country are green lighted but often red lighted up here.
He said people in the north should not have to accept second or third-class infrastructure. They should get services like the Elizabeth line, he said.ShareThe next caller is called Chris.Q: If you become Labour leader, it will be a poisoned chalice. The party seems to be split. If I were you, I would stick where you are. But I would love to see you as Labour leader?Burnham thanks Chris. He repeated the point about how he was just giving an honest answer to the Telegraph.He said the priority was for the party to get a proper plan. The stakes were high, he said.ShareSweeney is now posing questions from listeners.Q: Are you distracted from sorting out the bus strike in Manchester?Burnham said the bus services had improved a lot in Manchester.He said he was “sympathetic” to the drivers.But what they were asking for was “quite significantly above what’s been agreed elsewhere”.ShareBurnham says he will support Labour ‘in whatever way I can’Burnham said he could not ignore what was happening in Westminster.But ultimately it was for MPs to decide what happens to the party, he said.He added:
I’m here to support the party in whatever way I can.
ShareBurnham claims he is ‘completely committed’ to his Greater Manchester mayoral jobQ: What would you do if an MP offered to make a parliamentary seat available to you?Burnham said he would not answer a hypothetical question.He went back to his point about wanting to see a plan for the government, and about that mattering more than personalities.Q: But if Keir Starmer read your comments, he would feel miffed. He would think you were undermining him. What do you say to that?Burnham said he would say only a few days ago he was working “hard behind the scenes to land the Hillsborough law”, to get the plans in a form that would be acceptable to the families.He said people do not feel the government is on their side.That is what the party needs to do, “before you talk about any personality”.Q: What would you say to people in Manchester who say you are not focused on the city any more?Burnham said he would say he is here.
I would say to [callers to the programme] I’m here because I’m focused on here, and I’m about to take all of your calls, as I did last week.
And I am working, as I’ve always done, in dealing with the issues that affect people here. And I think that commitment I make to this programme is proof of that.
And I love everything about this job. I love what’s happening here in Greater Manchester. I’m completely committed to it.
ShareBurnham defends leadership comments to Telegraph, saying he ‘gave an honest answer’Mike Sweeney started his Radio Manchester interview by asking if Burnham was campaigning to replace Keir Starmer.Burnham said, when he left Westminster, he “took a vow not to speak in code”.He was asked a question, and gave an honest answer.But he also said it was not up to him; the leadership was a matter for MPs in parliament, he said.And he said he told the Telegraph it was not about personalities; it was about having a proper plan for the country.He said he did tell the Telegraph that he was ready to support the PM in getting that plan together.He said again he “gave an honest answer”. Sometimes it feels the Westminster world cannot deal with that, he said.ShareAndy Burnham is being interviewed by Mike Sweeney on BBC Radio Manchester now. You can listen here.ShareReed calls Burnham ‘regional politician’ as he says Starmer has seen off people taking ‘pot shots’ at him beforeHere are some more quotes from the Steve Reed interviews this morning where the housing secretary suggested Andy Burnham should stick to his day job. Reed was one of the Labour MPs backing Keir Starmer as a future leader well before the 2019 general election because they were appalled by Corbynism, and this group are not fans of Burnham, not least because they think by botching his own leadership bid in 2015 he let Jeremy Corbyn take over the party.
Reed described Burnham as “regional politician”. In an interview with BBC Breakfast, asked to respond to the Burnham policy ideas (see 9.57am), Reed said:
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[Burnham] is entitled, as a leading regional politician to make his case and I think he’s doing a fantastic job as mayor of Manchester.
He said Keir Starmer had seen off people taking “pot shots” at him before. When it was put to him that Burnham was not just setting out ideas, Reed said:
People have taken potshots at Keir Starmer before. As I said, when it happened in opposition, he picked this party up off the floor and he led us through a record breaking general election victory.
Steve Reed on BBC Breakfast this morning. Photograph: BBCShareBurnham calls for council tax rebanding, so expensive homes pay more, and possible revival of 50p tax rate for top earnersIn his New Statesman interview published yesterday Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, set out some of the policy ideas he thought the government should be adopting.Here are some more that he floated in his Telegraph interview.
Council tax rebanding, so that people living in the largest homes pay more. There is widespread agreement that the current system is overly-generous to people living in the most valuable homes, because they pay much less council tax as a share of the property’s value. Burnham said there was a “huge underpayment of tax that should now be corrected”. He explained:
If you look at London, I think there are people in homes that are even in double-figure millions paying less council tax than people [in Manchester]. It’s just not justifiable … where something is like that, it needs fixing.
The Economist recently published an article with this chart making Burnham’s point.Council tax as share of property value Photograph: Economist
I would urge the chancellor to consider a tax change at the other end. The 10p tax, I think, was actually one of the really innovative and quite interesting things that the Labour government did.
ShareUpdated at 09.59 BSTSteve Reed says Andy Burnham should stick to his Manchester job as mayor revives speculation about leadership bidGood morning. The Labour party conference starts on Sunday and today Keir Starmer is making what is in effect the first important conference policy offer: levelling-up style plans to “revitalise” run-down high streets.The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published some of the details in a news release. Kiran Stacey has a fuller run-down in the Guardian’s splash.Guardian splash Photograph: GuardianAnd Starmer will be speaking about these proposals in a series of regional TV interviews that will “drop” (journo-speak for be broadcast or published, when the embargo is lifted) at 6pm tonight.But there is another Labour policy offer on the table today.Telegraph splash Photograph: Daily TelegraphAndy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, gave an interview to the New Statesman published yesterday in which he said the country needed “wholesale change”. Today the Daily Telegraph has published another Burnham interview and, as Eleni Courea reports, in its he says Labour MPs are urging him to challenge the prime minister.The last time the Telegraph talked up the prospects of a metro mayor with ambitions for higher office, we ended up with Boris Johnson as prime minister. It is entirely possible – perhaps even likely – that the Burnham leadership challenge will never materialise. But there is some substance to it; it is more than just three excitable, anonymous MPs and journalists out to flame up a story.Steve Reed, the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, has been giving media interviews this morning. He has been talking about the plan to revive high streets but he has had to respond to the latest Burnham comments too. He was tactful, but the message still came through; essentially, he was telling Burnham to get back in his box. This is what he told Times Radio
Andy is playing a great role already. He’s the mayor of Greater Manchester and he’s doing an incredible job there, if you look at what they’re doing on homelessness or what they’re doing working with local health services. He will keep doing that work, because that is the commitment he gave until the end of his term … He’s given a commitment. I’m sure he wouldn’t break it.
Burnham is one his third term as Greater Manchester mayor, and the next elections are not due until 2028. Reed was essentially telling him to stick to the day job until then.I will post more on the Reed and Burnham interviews shortly.Here is the agenda for the day.Morning: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, and Richard Tice, his deputy, have a meeting with the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey. Bailey agreed to meet them to discuss their proposal for the government to save billions by cutting the interest paid on QE deposits held by commercial lenders, but Farage and Tice also reportedly want to argue for an interest rate cut.9.30am: The Ministry of Justice publishes figures on the court backlog in England and Wales. And the ONS is publishing figures on the extent of stalking.Noon: John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, takes questions from MSPs at Holyrood.Afternoon: The Cabinet Office releases data about gifts and hospitality received by ministers and special advisers.6pm: The BBC and ITV regional stations are due to broadcast interviews with Keir Starmer, recorded earlier in the day but embargoed until 6pm.If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm BST at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.ShareUpdated at 10.00 BST
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