Burnham latest: Labour MPs ‘consider leadership challenge’ to halt his coronation to replace Starmer as PM

Nigel Farage has blamed the number of ousted prime ministers in the last decade on the failure to implement the 2016 Brexit vote.

The Reform UK leader, who played a key role in the ‘Leave’ campaign, said on Tuesday he “does not regret” the referendum result at all.

Speaking on the ten year anniversary of the vote, and the day after Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation, Mr Farage claimed the referendum “was not accepted by the establishment”.

“That is why you’ve seen the two-party system as it’s historically been known, frankly, under massive attack,” he told the BBC.

“That is why we’ve had seven prime ministers in the course of the last 10 years.

“They haven’t accepted the public vote with goodwill, and they haven’t implemented it.”

Nigel Farage has admitted his Makerfield candidate’s resurfaced sexist social media posts “didn’t help” the party’s chances in the by-election.

Local plumber Rob Kenyon lost to Andy Burnham by almost 10,000 votes in the contest last week.

During the course of his campaign, online comments in which he claimed women couldn’t “ref, drive or give directions” and declared he was sexist resurfaced.

The Reform UK leader has now admitted the backlash “wasn’t good” and said he did not withdraw him as a candidate partly because it was “too late”.

“We couldn’t find these social media posts,” Mr Farage told the BBC. “He’s a plumber, a rugby player, ex army, one of the lads, likes a beer, and it was male banter.

“It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t good, it didn’t help. I will admit that it didn’t help.”

Asked why he didn’t withdraw him or get him to apologise for the comments, he said: “Because A) it was too late to withdraw him, B) he was actually a very good, hardworking candidate, a proper local guy.

“And when it comes to the apology, I said, look, Rob, you must decide yourself what you’d like, I can’t force people to apologise.”

In other news, northern leaders have accused Brexit leaders of breaking promises after new figures revealed London is receiving more money than any other UK region.

A key part of the campaign to leave the EU was to spread wealth across the UK with Boris Johnson, who signed the withdrawal agreement six years ago, promising increased investment, better transport and raised living standards as part of the Tories’ post-Brexit policy.

Read the full article from our reporter Alex Ross here:

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said if Andy Burnham becomes prime minister next month “he’ll do so with no mandate whatsoever” and the public “deserve a vote”.

Mr Farage said Sir Keir Starmer “left yesterday with no dignity at all”, adding “I found he became petulant, aggressive, rude, insulting”.

Discussing Mr Burnham, the Reform UK leader told GB News: “Politicians have to take positions.

“We, at the moment, have almost no idea where this man stands on anything, he’s flipped and flopped in the last month more than Keir Starmer has in the last two years.”

Mr Farage added: “I’m hoping that Al Carns, or someone like that stands against him, so that over the course of a summer we can actually see what he stands for. At the moment, we haven’t got a clue.

“If he does become prime minister on July 17th, he’ll do so with no mandate whatsoever.

“I think the public are sick to death of the game of musical chairs that’s going on in Downing Street and deserve a vote.”

The Reform UK leader added that his party “can be ready very, very quickly” for a general election.

A cabinet meeting is set to begin at 9am, the first time all senior Labour MPs will be gathered since Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation.

The outgoing prime minister will chair the meeting and will continue to do so until a new leader has been chosen.

Among the first to arrive in his chief secretary Darren Jones, who has reportedly not ruled out his own leadership bid.

Andy Burnham is set to make a major speech next week to set out key aspects of his economic policy, including confirmation he will stick to the current Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ rules for managing the public finances.

Mr Burnham will begin to set out his policy platform, pledging economic growth and a commitment to Labour’s existing fiscal rules in a speech next week.

Talks are also said to be taking place about who will sit in his Cabinet, with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood both tipped as potential candidates to replace Ms Reeves as chancellor.

But Mr Burnham’s allies said no jobs had been given and no deals had been made as of Monday evening.

Ms Reeves’ successor would be bound by the rules she set, which aim to restrict borrowing and pay for day-to-day spending out of tax revenues by the end of the decade.

Mr Burnham knows he has to reassure the City of London about his economic plans, having previously caused alarm by saying “we’ve got to get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets”.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds backed Andy Burnham for the Labour leadership and suggested a contest to replace Sir Keir Starmer would not be in the national interest.

He told Sky News: “I am backing Andy Burnham to succeed Keir. I think, first of all, we have a job of delivery to do in the second half of the Parliament. I think he has shown, Andy, comprehensively as the mayor of Greater Manchester, that he can carry out that job of delivery.

“But secondly, there is the question about leading us into the next general election and defeating Reform and I think Andy Burnham has just shown comprehensively in Makerfield that he can do that, we’ve seen him do it in an election.

“So I’m backing Andy Burnham and, yes, looking for a swift transition.”

Asked if that meant he wanted to avoid a contest, he said: “I just think we have to weigh up what is in the best interests of the country. I am of the view that it needs to be a swift transition, but of course I understand colleagues have difficult decisions to make.”