Politics latest: Streeting launches Labour leadership bid with call to rejoin EU

Andy Burnham has said he is running in the Makerfield by-election to “save” Labour.

Speaking to the BBC, the mayor for Greater Manchester said Labour has to acknowledge it has “not been good enough”, adding it “requires a lot of change”.

“I want Labour solidly to be the part of working class people people are working class and that requires a lot of change,” he added.

It comes after he was given the go ahead by the NEC to run in the by-election.

Wes Streeting has said he will campaign for Andy Burnham, should he be the Labour candidate in the upcoming Makerfield by-election.

Asked by an audience member what would happen in a future Labour leadership contest should Mr Burnham not win the seat, the former health secretary said: “First of all, we’ve got to be in it to win it in Makerfield, I know there’ll be differences of opinion about whether it was right for Josh Simons to vacate the seat in the way that he did is a hell of a risk, but I honestly think that if anyone could win that by-election, Andy Burnham can.

“And I’ll be out there going door-knocking day after day to help get him elected. I hope all of you will too.

“I love a by-election. I wish we didn’t have so many of them, and I’ll be proud to campaign for Andy Burnham.”

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

Wes Streeting has told the conference that “if we are not building homes for the next generation then we are failing the next generation”.

He added that when it came to the natural environment “the species I’m most worried about at the moment are children who living in mouldy bed and breakfasts”.

Wes Streeting has said leaving the EU was a “catastrophic mistake” as he called for a new “special relationship” with the union.

He said: “Today’s politics must deal with the immediate issues that concern voters – affordability, small boats, the NHS – but we also need it to rise to the big issues that define our age. We need a bigger politics. Let’s embrace diversity of thought and competition for ideas as a strength.

“We won’t find radical solutions by ignoring ideas in favour of just problem solving – as though government is the same as management consultancy – or if we believe that one person or one political tradition has a monopoly on ideas and wisdom.

“At the core are three big important choices we have to make as a country that can help us regain our sense of progress.

“First, leaving the European Union was a catastrophic mistake. In 2026, the British people increasingly see that in a dangerous world, we must club together, both to rebuild our economy and trade, and improve our defence against the shared threats from Russian aggression and America First. The biggest economic opportunity we have is on our doorstep. We need a new Special Relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe – and one day back in the European Union.

Wes Streeting confirmed he will be standing, should a Labour leadership contest to replace Sir Keir Starmer be triggered.

“We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the field, and I’ll be standing,” he told reporters at a conference in central London.

Mr Streeting, who this week stood down as health secretary, also insisted he did have enough support among MPs to trigger a contest, but suggested his challenge would “lack legitimacy” without rival Andy Burnham being given a chance to return to Parliament.

He told the Progress think tank conference: “Firstly, I do have support in the parliamentary party, but this week I also had a choice.

“We could have rushed straight into a leadership contest, knowing not all of the candidates would be on the pitch, that Andy Burnham was about to stand in a by-election, and that if we had rushed ahead without giving Andy a chance to stand, the new leader, whether it was me or anyone else, would lack the legitimacy, and so we would end up extending instability and uncertainty.

“That might have been the self-interested thing to do for candidates who are in Parliament presently, but it wasn’t in the party’s interest and wasn’t in the national interest.”

Wes Streeting added: “We’ve also seen Jews murdered and attacked in their shuls and on our streets, kids in my constituency trying to hide their school uniforms and stars of David because they fear being abused or attacked just for being Jewish. ‘Globalise the intifada’ in deeds, not just words.

“Nigel Farage and Reform seek to exploit division and hatred to benefit from it. And when it comes to antisemitism on the left, the Green Party choose to look the other way because their party is now riddled with that which we expelled.

“This is our fight. It has always been Labour’s fight. Not just to confront the forces of racism, discrimination and hatred, but to build a path to a better and brighter future for everyone.”

On the far-right march through London today, Streeting said Labour must confront racism, not explain it.

He said: “Today, Tommy Robinson and his followers are marching through the streets of our capital city. The last time he did, ministers were sent out by Number 10 with a media script to explain the march, rather than condemn it.

“What we’ve experienced in our country in recent months is a type of racism we haven’t seen on our streets since the 1970s and 80s. Our country’s flags flown from lampposts and flyovers, not as a symbol of national pride, but as a symbol of division: a message that those flags belongs to people who look like me and not people who look like our Mayor of London.”