Streeting will expose ‘human shopping trolley’ Burnham, say allies of ex-health secretary
Andy Burnham has been described as a human “shopping trolley” by Wes Streeting’s allies after he carried out a series of U-turns on key policies in recent days.
The attack on left-winger Mr Burnham comes amid an increasingly bitter war of words between two men who want to replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister.
A close ally of Mr Streeting said Independent He said he planned to expose what he saw as a series of inconsistencies in Mr Burnham’s policies if a formal Labor leadership race was triggered after Mr Burnham backtracked on his stance on Brexit and economic policies.
“Burnham is a human shopping cart. Wes has a few surprises up his sleeve that will make it known to a wider audience,” the source said.
The debilitating phrase “shopping trolley” was first used by Boris Johnson’s No 10 senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, to mock what he saw as Mr Johnson’s chaotic behavior as prime minister.
Mr Burnham and Mr Streeting are the two main candidates to replace Sir Keir if he is forced to leave Downing Street. Mr Streeting, seen as a Blairite and with close ties to Peter Mandelson, Britain’s disgraced former ambassador to the US, resigned as health secretary last week to pursue his ambition to replace the prime minister.
Mr Burnham is bidding to be the Labor candidate in the Makerfield by-election after Labor MP Josh Simons resigned to pave the way for Mr Burnham to take over the seat and launch his own Labor leadership challenge.
Sir Keir faces calls to resign from nearly 100 Labor MPs after the party suffered huge losses to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party in local elections this month.
But the prime minister has so far refused to resign and his allies insist he will not set a timetable for his departure from No 10. Most Labor MPs believe the prime minister will be forced to do so if Mr Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election, although he may try to hold on if Mr Burnham is defeated.
The latest row between Mr Burnham and Mr Streeting follows the publication of a poll of Labor Party members showing Mr Burnham would edge Mr Streeting by 80 per cent to 20 per cent in a leadership race.
A new YouGov poll also suggests Mr Burnham will beat Sir Keir by 59 per cent to 37 per cent. Mr Burnham has made two policy flip-flops in recent days.
Having previously expressed his belief that Britain should eventually rejoin the EU, he said he had no intention of reopening the issue of Britain’s EU membership if he became prime minister.
He explained that he respected the outcome of the 2016 referendum and did not want to be stuck in “permanent disagreements” on the issue. His comments came after Mr Streeting said he hoped Brexit would be reversed.
His intervention led to claims from Mr Burnham’s supporters that it was a deliberate attempt to “sabotage” their hopes of winning the upcoming Makerfield by-election by reopening the Brexit dispute.
The constituency is seen as a strong supporter of Brexit. In another significant change, Mr Burnham announced he would follow the government’s fiscal rules and not borrow for day-to-day spending, after previously suggesting additional defense spending could be financed with extra borrowing.
He was criticized for saying governments should “move beyond the issue of being hostage to bond markets.” Uncertainty arising from Labour’s leadership race and concerns about Mr Burnham’s economic policies have led to a rise in the cost of government debt in recent days.
He is in favor of returning water, transport and social housing to public control and leasing controls to stop the increase in the cost of living.
Mr Burnham’s allies say his record as mayor of Manchester, considered one of Britain’s most economically successful cities in recent years, shows his policies are practical and can work on a national scale.
