Andy Burnham has assured the voters of Gorton and Denton he has “drawn a line” under his war with Number 10 and will only bring “nothing but positivity” to Labour’s by-election campaign for Angeliki Stogia, who was selected over the weekend. It’s been eight days since he declared the seat unwinnable after the NEC blocked him from standing…
Deputy Leader Lucy Powell also made the trip north. She too claimed Burnham was the only realistic hope for the seat when she backed him at the NEC vote, as Guido revealed in Labour Wars. It is still unclear whether Starmer himself will even step foot in the constituency. Although if you’re Angeliki Stogia, you’re hoping he’ll just be too busy…
Andy Haldane, Burnham’s recent adviser on the economy who has not taken up a No10 job, told Andrew Marr on LBC:
“The market now suspects that this is a traditional tax-and-spend socialist government with better TikTok videos…
imposing windfall taxes on oil & gas or on banks or upping capital gains tax would […] repeat the mistake that Rachel made […] The Achilles heel, the fiscal Achilles heel of this government thus far has been its unwillingness and/or inability to cut public spending.”