Starmer’s proposals to change Labour’s election rules have managed to avoid splitting the party – insofar as almost everyone is united against him. Guido’s dug through the responses and they do not make happy reading for LOTO:

• • Shadow Transport Minister Sam Tarry: “As a committed trade unionist and having campaigned for electoral reform for many years, I cannot support a regressive plan to dilute Labour members’ votes and divide our movement. We are one party and should all have an equal say in choosing who leads any Labour Government.”
  • Shadow Tourism Minister Alex Sobel: “MPs already have the privilege of casting the qualifying nominations for Labour Leader to ensure the confidence of the PLP. We must then trust our members and union affiliated supporters to vote for the best candidate by OMOV. The Electoral College just looks like a fix for MPs.”
  • Mayor of London Sadiq Khan: “I’ve got to be frank Michelle, as the Mayor of London, internal Labour Party rules isn’t at the fore of my mind. [I] have not a chance to look into the changes being considered’.
  • Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar: “I don’t think it should be our focus. It is certainly not my focus. I’m going to conference to talk about the issues I care about.”

Ringing endorsements across the board…

Even his own Deputy Leader has refused to come off the fence, with Angela Rayner’s spokesman declining to comment on the plans earlier this week. Shadow Housing minister Thangham Debonnaire has also refused to say which way she’d vote on reforms. This is all before the usual suspects such as McDonnell, Corbyn, Sultana, Dianne Abbott, Nadia Whittome and Dawn Butler say their piece. Labour conference starts tomorrow – plenty of opportunities for Sir Keir to deploy his charms on the membership…