Sir Keir Starmer prepares to fight Andy Burnham in leadership contest
The Greater Manchester Mayor is expected to win the Makerfield by-election, according to the poll, next week, which is likely to pave the way for a leadership challenge.
Sir Keir Starmer has reportedly reiterated to his ministers privately that he intends to fight Andy Burnham in a potential Labour leadership contest.
The Greater Manchester Mayor is expected to win the Makerfield by-election, according to the poll, next week, which is likely to pave the way for a leadership challenge.
It is unknown whether Mr Burnham will trigger the contest straight away, or potentially wait until after the following mayoral election.
It is understood he could easily get the support of 81 MPs to challenge the Prime Minister.
This week, Sir Keir has been attempting to mobilise his troops, as well as unveiling a raft of policy proposals before Mr Burnham’s likely return to Westminster.
On Monday, the Prime Minister met with dozens of junior ministers in No10 to make clear he intended to fight the Greater Manchester Mayor.
The BBC reported that he told them: “If there is a contest, then I’m going to fight it, I’m not going to walk away. I am going to fight to win … I’ll be in it to win it.”
Yesterday, Sir Keir met with his Cabinet to try and push on with some big announcements over the next few weeks.
It is understood that he is poised to announce some form of ban on social media for under 16s.
In an unusual step, the US embassy responded to the consultation saying it preferred “narrowly targeted requirements” for adult content “rather than broad social media bans”.
While the US said it did not “categorically oppose age assurance measures”, it said: “Most content should remain accessible by default, including political speech.
“We believe an open internet is essential to the preservation of free speech and most content should be accessible by default unless the provider knows or has reason to know the user is a child.”
The Cabinet readout said: “The Prime Minister said the government's consultation had recently closed following a huge response.
“He said the public debate showed the strength of feeling about the issue.
“The Prime Minister said there was no question the government would act and the status quo had to change.
“He added the Technology Secretary and her team had been working intensively to respond to the consultation.
“He said the government's response was the next stage in our work, following his challenge to tech companies yesterday to make Britain the first country in the world where it is impossible for children to take, share or view nude images.”