Burnham suggests Labour more likely to lose byelection after blocking him – UK politics live | Politics

Good morning. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to unveil a major police reform package this afternoon (the Home Office has been providing item-by-item briefings for the past few days), but not for the first time, Labour’s internal crisis is attracting more attention and commentary than a government policy initiative.

At work Peter WalkerLabour’s decision to ban Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from standing as a candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election is the story of one night, about the reaction to the move in the party and its possible consequences.

Peter has a good analysis here too. And Josh Halliday There is now an analysis of what could happen in Gorton and Denton, a constituency on the outskirts of Manchester.

this morning Douglas AlexanderThe Scottish secretary appeared in publications defending the decision. The Labor Party said in a statement yesterday:

NEC [national executive committee] He believes that provoking an unnecessary election for the position of Mayor of Greater Manchester would have a significant and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources ahead of local elections and the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd elections in May. Although the party was confident of retaining the mayoralty, the NEC could not risk Labour’s control of Manchester at any risk.

This morning Alexander expressed the same argument in more colorful terms. He told Times Radio that holding a new Greater Manchester mayoral election (which must happen because Burnham would have to leave the mayoralty to become a by-election candidate) would be “the equivalent of 20 by-elections stalling time, energy and money” for Labor. And he continued:

We would definitely fight hard in this race, but there would also be a degree of risk; Reform is currently outpacing us by 10 to one and you can’t take anything for granted in the biggest and most unnecessary election contest in Britain. This doesn’t seem like a risk-free choice to me.

I’ll be posting more of his interviews soon.

Here is the agenda of the day.

Morning: Keir Starmer and health minister Wes Streeting are visiting London.

10am: Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham speaks An online Social Justice Center event about technical education.

11am: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has held a press conference where he is expected to pledge to stop any prosecution of veterans for crimes related to the Northern Ireland Troubles.

11am: Malcolm Offord, Scottish leader of Reformation England, gives a speech.

Afternoon: A lobby briefing is being held in Downing Street.

14.30: Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden answers questions in the House of Commons.

After 15.30: Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood speaks to MPs about police reform.

16.30: The Prime Minister’s principal secretary, Darren Jones, and security minister Dan Jarvis are giving evidence to parliament’s national security strategy committee.

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