Andy Burnham latest: Starmer allies block Manchester mayor’s Westminster comeback bid

Allies of Starmer have risked short-term gain over long-term pain, writes Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin.

Andy Burnham has been blocked from standing to become an MP in the upcoming by-election, a move that could have paved a way for him to mount a leadership challenge against the prime minister.

But the result has been to leave the Labour leader looking weaker.

On Saturday senior Labour figures, including Cabinet minister Ed Miliband and London mayor Sadiq Khan said local party members should have the option of whether or not they choose Mr Burnham.

Mr Burnham had to ask permission to stand because as a metro mayor his election could trigger another, costly, election for Labour, just as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK senses blood. But the result will lead to accusations of a stitch up designed to protect a struggling, and weak, PM.

Sir Keir Starmer and his allies have blocked Andy Burnham from running in the Gorton and Denton by-election.

It has been reported that the vote was 8-1 against Mr Burnham, with Labour deputy chair Lucy Powell voting in favour and the chair Shabana Mahmood abstaining as is the convention.

Andy Burnham’s leadership ambitions are not the only ones at stake today, writes Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin.

The decision over whether or not to let Mr Burnham stand will affect others hoping to replace Sir Keir Starmer.

Not least of those is the home secretary Shabana Mahmood, who was interviewed by Sir Tony Blair last year in a moment seen as the ex-PM endorsing her.

She is in a difficult position. They are on opposing wings of the party, although she praised him today as an “exceptional politician”.

But even though she is just one vote of 10 making today’s decision, any claims of a stitch-up risk affecting her popularity in the eyes of Labour MPs and members, who might ultimately decide who succeeds Sir Keir.

Sir Ed Davey has said the UK is in a “cold war-type scenario” and called on the government to issue war bonds to increase funds available for defence spending to reduce reliance on an “unreliable” ally.

Asked whether he thinks the country is at war, Sir Ed told BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “I think we’re in almost a cold war-type scenario, aren’t we? We’ve seen a lot of evidence of Russia using drones, using submarines, shadow fleets and so on.

“But this is a serious threat, and we need to move far faster than what the government has been doing.

“My fear, particularly with the approach of Donald Trump, is that what we have understood for over 75 years, that the Nato alliance would hold together, there has to be a question, I regret to say, deeply regret to say, that because of Donald Trump, there has to be a question about whether we can rely on the United States.

“With him in the White House, they’re no longer a reliable ally, we have to step up and fast.”

Ten members of a powerful sub-committee of Labour’s governing National Executive Committee will meet today to decide whether to give Andy Burnham permission to stand in the by-election, writes Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin.

The step is part of the party’s rules because of his current day job. Another election to replace him as the mayor of Greater Manchester risks costing the party hundreds of thousands of pounds, alongside the risk they could lose it to Reform.

The ten members of the group include Keir Starmer himself, who last year suggested Mr Burnham’s economic stance could lead him to become Labour’s Liz Truss. There is also Shabana Mahmood, who chairs the committee.

She called Mr Burnham an “exceptional politician” today, but they are on separate wings of the party and he could represent a threat to her own leadership ambitions. Also at the meeting will be Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader, and a Manchester MP known to be close to Mr Burnham.

As the sister of Starmer’s chancellor Rachel Reeves, Ellie Reeves, the solicitor general, is viewed as loyal to the current leadership, while Gurinder Singh Josan, a backbencher, is seen as a centrist and not part of the soft-left of the party supporting Burnham.

Making up the ten, for what Ms Mahmood said would be a “finely balanced” judgement are representatives from two large trade union, the GMB and USDAW, as well a Labour councillor, the party’s treasurer and a Constituency Labour Party representative.

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey said he is relieved Donald Trump “backed down” on his suggestion Nato troops stayed “a little off” the front lines in Afghanistan, and is grateful the King wrote to the president to express concern.

Sir Ed told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “It was quite appalling for Donald trump to make those comments, so I am relieved he’s backed down, and grateful to the King for his intervention.

“But it doesn’t change my view on Donald Trump, and it doesn’t change my view that this government’s approach to Donald Trump is not the right one.”

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has said she won’t hesitate to take action over harassment of women through new technologies after she was asked about people using smart glasses to secretly film women.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Mahmood said: “I think the ability of technology to be used in way that can harass women, I think it’s an ever-changing environment. We’ve taken action against intimate image abuse on nudification apps, so we take these things very very seriously. We won’t tolerate new modes of technology being used to create more violence against women and girls, more harassment.

“I will obviously look at what this case is showing. We’ve taken action before, we won’t hesitate to take action again.”

The Independent’s Nicole Wooton-Cane spoke to women who had been filmed on the street by strangers wearing smart glasses. Read their story here:

The BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme says it has seen a leaked letter calling for a pause in the process to decide whether or not to block Andy Burnham’s potential return to Parliament, writes Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin.

The home secretary Shabana Mahmood was told the leak showed a draft of a letter written by the full NEC, the party’s governing National Executive Committee, that suggested “any attempt to rule out certain candidates will be seen as undemocratic interference .. (and that) this current timetable should be paused so that the whole NEC committee should be included in setting out this timeline and this process.”

A sub-committee, chaired by Ms Mahmood, is due to decide on Mr Burnham’s fate later today.

She tried to brush off the criticism saying normal practice was being followed and that it was not unusual for the party to have “big rows over selection”.

Earlier she said the decision was “finely balanced” for some members of the committee, because allowing him to stand risks triggering another by-election, to replace him as mayor of Greater Manchester, at a cost insiders claim could be around £1m.