Andy Burnham joins the Starmer pile on with fresh demands after PM ‘lurched left to save his job’- while Ed Miliband celebrates new focus on ‘class divide’

Keir Starmer is bowing to party demands to move Labor further to the left, a senior minister claimed today, as rival Andy Burnham presented the Prime Minister with his own alternative governing manifesto.

Energy Minister Ed Miliband this morning said the prime minister would focus on ‘class divisions’, implying he had agreed to move left to save his life.

spoke before The ambitious Greater Manchester mayor, who was personally prevented by the Prime Minister from returning to Westminster last month to quell a leadership challenge, has backed Sir Keir to remain in No 10.

He also called for greater party unity, but Thinly veiled attack on Mr Burnham He accused politicians in London of ‘getting too close to wealth’ and being ‘seduced’ by free market economic solutions to social problems.

The changes he proposed included a commitment to build 500,000 council and social homes by the end of the decade and giving councils the power to compulsorily buy substandard homes from private landlords.

He also used his speech at a think tank conference to lament how privatization of public services has taken power away from the poor.

Sir Keir has become the latest senior Labor figure to suggest the party change course as Sir Keir faces public calls to resign amid a major row over former US ambassador Peter Mandelson and his friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

MPs are pressing the Prime Minister to raise taxes once again to spend more on public services and social benefits.

Other developments and turns today:

• Labour’s First Minister for Wales, Baroness Morgan, gave the Prime Minister lukewarm support, saying she supported him ‘in the job he was elected to do’;
• Scotland Yard warned other ministers not to follow Mr Streeting when handing over their WhatsApp to Mandelson;
• Kemi Badenoch claimed that ‘some’ Labor MPs were ‘giving signals’ that they would support a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

Wounded Keir Starmer will meet his cabinet today after ‘staring into the abyss’ and deciding not to sack him – for now

Ed Miliband this morning said the prime minister would focus on ‘class divisions’, implying he had agreed to move left to save his life.

Sir Keir gathered ministers for a cabinet meeting today to thank them. He gave his support despite more than 24 hours of deathly silence following the resignation of his top aide over the Mandelson scandal.

They finally rallied after Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar demanded his resignation; Questions swirled about what concessions and deals Sir Keir might have made to ensure his survival.

The Prime Minister insisted They were ‘strong and united’. But among those who were there Wes StreetHe denies this man, who is accused of planning a coup by No. 10 people.

Health Secretary Mr Streeting also published a series of messages yesterday in which he condemned Mandelson and his government’s “no growth” strategy, but Sir Keir appears too weak to sack him.

Speaking at the Resolution Foundation’s Anonymous Britain conference, Mr Burnham said: ‘Following recent events, I think it is time to put an end to this period in British politics where politicians have become too enamored with wealth, too caught up in the idea that deregulated markets will provide the solution when in fact it is a problem for the lowest earners.’

Outlining efforts to nationalize the bus service in Manchester, he added: ‘I would say that Westminster politicians in recent years have not been prepared to do these difficult things.

‘But if we are serious about solving the simultaneous housing and cost of living crises, then they will have to be.

‘Our aim as a country should be very clear: lower rents, lower water bills, lower energy bills, lower rail fares, lower bus fares.’

Many in the Labor Party still believe the Prime Minister was doomed because the government was forced to publish even more damaging internal messages about Mandelson.

He faces losing Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald in the coming days following the departure of his right-hand man Morgan McSweeney and communications chief Tim Allan.

The party is fighting to hold on to the February 26 by-election for Gorton & Denton, a traditionally safe seat.

And local elections in May are expected to turn into a bloodbath, with the looming disaster in Scotland thought to have sparked Mr Sarwar’s dramatic assassination attempt.

Yet Sir Keir told the Cabinet: ‘The whole Labor Party wants Anas Sarwar to be First Minister and fight for a Labor government in Scotland.’

Angela Rayner is thought to be maneuvering for the leadership but yesterday backed the Prime Minister to continue. He still has not resolved his problems with HMRC over an unpaid stamp duty bill that forced him to resign as Deputy Prime Minister last September.

Unlike yesterday, Downing Street this morning managed to persuade a Cabinet minister to make the government’s case in broadcast studios.

Among those in the Cabinet today was Wes Streeting (pictured with Science Secretary Liz Kendall), accused by No 10 figures of being behind the coup plot.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy appeared in good spirits this morning despite the government’s sorry state of affairs

Nick Thomas-Symonds (left) and Darren Jones (right) were among ministers who initially remained silent over the growing threat to the Prime Minister. Aides insisted they were busy working on policy issues

Ministers only finally met after Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar (pictured) demanded Sir Keir’s resignation

In a scathing assessment of Sir Keir’s first 18 months in power, Mr Miliband said this crisis ‘must be a moment of change’ and that the government needed ‘much greater clarity of purpose’.

But the Net Zero Secretary invited MPs to ‘moveon.org’, telling BBC Breakfast: ‘The Labor Party as a whole looked over the cliff and thought the right thing to do was to support our leader.’

He said: ‘Yesterday was, in a way, a moment of danger for the Prime Minister. I have no hesitation about this.

‘But the Cabinet and the Labor Party as a collective body looked at the alternatives of going down this chaotic path of leadership elections, of trying to remove a prime minister, and said ‘no, that’s not for us’.’

In a sign that Sir Keir was bowing to MPs demanding a more left-wing policy platform, Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I tell you what angers Keir the most; This is the class. Here is the class distinction…

‘He’s there to change that… I absolutely reject the idea that he’s not someone driven by a burning passion for the injustices our country faces and how we need to change them.

‘We need more than this. He knows we need more than that. I think we’ll see more of this.’

Mr Miliband said the idea of ​​’class warfare’ was ‘nonsense’.

‘Many people from working class backgrounds are looked down upon and held back in our country,’ he said.

‘Whether it’s not getting an apprenticeship or not getting a promotion… Keir is about to change that. ‘Not just social mobility for the few, but recognition for all, a good life for all.’

Mr Miliband said voters wanted “boldness in our responses” that were “appropriate to the scale of the situation we face”.

‘One of the biggest disappointments…Rachel increased taxes on the wealthy and business – some people don’t like that – so we can invest in the future, in public services including health, energy and education,’ he said.

Mr Miliband has said he will not run for the Labor leadership in any possible contest.

His message was said to sound a bit like a leadership speech, to which he replied: ‘Absolute nonsense.’

Asked if he would rule out running, the Energy Secretary told Sky News: ‘I’m not running for the leadership, no.’

Instead of saying he wasn’t running at the moment, when asked if he would rule out running, he said: ‘Yeah, yeah, I won’t run.’

An exhausted Sir Keir was last night seen returning to bunker 10 in the government car after the chaotic day.

Mr Sarwar, once an ally of Sir Keir, said ‘too many mistakes’ had been made in Downing Street.

‘I have to be honest about failure wherever I see it,’ he said. ‘Distraction must end, leadership must change.’

Mr Sarwar gave the Prime Minister advance notice of his move, causing panic in No 10 and sparking a massive rescue operation.

A Labor Party source said ministers were told they had to voice their support for the Prime Minister by the end of the day or face dismissal.

People in Downing Street accused Mr Streeting of collaborating with Mr Sarwar in a plot similar to the attempt to oust Gordon Brown in 2009.

This led to James Purnell leaving the Cabinet but heir apparent David Miliband did not follow suit, largely because Mandelson lined up ministers behind Mr Brown.

A spokesman for Mr Streeting told the Times: ‘Wes did not ask Anas to do this, he did not co-operate with Anas on this. Anas is the leader of the Scottish Labor Party, his own man and Wes has great respect for him.

‘While Wes was in an interview saying Keir needed a chance to put his case and plan, Number 10 was briefing Wes telling Anas Sarwar to explain. That’s the problem.”

Sir Keir was already reeling from Mr McSweeney’s departure on Sunday, having been followed out the door by No 10’s communications director yesterday morning.

John Healey (left) has been mooted as a potential caretaker to replace Sir Keir. Peter Kyle (right) was also in the Cabinet

In a scathing assessment of Sir Keir’s first 18 months in power, Ed Miliband said this crisis “must be a moment of change” and that the government needed “much greater clarity of purpose”.

Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris is on the verge of joining the exodus from Downing Street just a year after Sir Keir appointed him.

There have been private discussions about the possibility of replacing Sir Keir with an interim leader such as Defense Secretary John Healey.

But with their leadership rivals unprepared to make a move and financial markets wavering over the prospect of chaotic competition, they eventually gave in to No 10’s demands to issue public statements of support.

In a belated spate of posts on social media following Mr Sarwar’s rise, every member of the Cabinet expressed broad support for the Prime Minister.

Later, in a defiant speech to Labor MPs, Sir Keir vowed to keep fighting and said: ‘I’ve won every battle I’ve been in.’