Sir Keir is up in front of the cameras at 11 a.m. this morning to defend his position on the Israel-Hamas war. Having grown a spine last night after Rishi Sunak sacked Paul Bristow, Starmer suspended the whip from Andy McDonald, and is now set to face off against the left flank of his party demanding an immediate ceasefire. Despite the squawks of Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan…

Starmer will – for now at least – stand by his statement last week, calling for “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid distribution and civilian evacuations, but not an outright ceasefire. He’ll argue that would be a gift for Hamas. It is essentially the same position Rishi has taken…

The Q&A session after the speech should be the one to watch. Popcorn at the ready…

The Starmer-Burnham peace treaty lasted a grand total of 19 days. This morning Burnham has written in The Independent to warn Sir Keir it is “simply not possible” for Labour to have a clear position on the Israel-Hamas war, and insist it is actually “healthy” for “different views” to be aired. A total ceasefire would certainly be “healthy” for the Hamas terrorists who would regroup and launch a thousand more rockets across the border….

Burnham said this morning:

“In times like this, it is simply not possible quickly to arrive at a clear party line. People will have different views and it is healthy for those views to be aired… MPs’ feelings will change daily as they react to events, balance views of constituents and try to formulate a settled view. Let’s not brand them as disloyal or as if they don’t care about innocent lives.”

“MPs feelings will change daily as they react to events” reads like a disclaimer that should be tattooed on the heads of half the MPs in Westminster. Meanwhile LOTO is sitting on its hands over the growing rebellion, with frontbencher Peter Kyle saying yesterday it is unlikely those who call for a ceasefire will be sacked. A real test of Starmer’s mettle… 

Andy Burnham says he’s finally made up with Keir Starmer after a year-long briefing war over the prize of the Labour leadership. Speaking to The Guardian today, Burnham admitted his relationship with the Labour leader was in a bad place “last year“, and seems to suggest it was Sue Gray who acted as marriage counsellor:

“I think we’re in a good place. We’re meeting, we’re working together. There’s a much better, I would say, working relationship than let’s say this time last year. I’m just going to be honest about that and I appreciate it. And it’s been led by Keir. Sue Gray is making a real, genuine difference…”

Gray must be a relationship guru, because Burnham was complaining about LOTO’s negative briefings just two months ago, and admitting he still fancied a tilt at the leadership himself. Now Starmer’s position is secure, there’s no point trying to nick his job…

Andy Burnham has said the quiet part out loud and admitted he’s mulling a return to Westminster. Speaking up at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this afternoon, Burnham conceded he’d have a third go at the Labour leadership if a vacancy were to somehow arise, and “one last go” as an MP is on the cards:

“If a path opens up in time then, of course, I’m not going to turn away from that… I think there potentially is one last go at Westminster somewhere. But I want to be clear about this – I would only be going back to enact what I’ve talked about today.”

He also stressed that Labour “needs to show how it can bring hope“, and most of his contact with the current leadership team is now through “reading briefings about [him] in the newspapers”. So even if he does return to SW1, it doesn’t look like he’ll join Starmer’s front bench in a hurry…