Starmer's Faction Just Found A New Way To Bury Burnham - Without Lifting A Finger

Burnham hasn’t been handed a comeback - he’s been handed Makerfield, and Makerfield looks less like a doorway than a trapdoor. Right, so Josh Simons, the Labour MP for Makerfield, has just announced that he is standing down. He is resigning the seat. He is triggering a by-election. And the stated reason, the reason being briefed out, the reason being written up across the political press, is that he is doing it so that Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester and the man widely seen as the most serious internal threat to Keir Starmer's leadership, can come back into Parliament and run for the Labour leadership. That is the story as sold. A loyal MP, stepping aside, opening a door for a ‘returning hero’. Burnham has already confirmed he will ask Labour's National Executive Committee for permission to stand. Starmer's allies are briefing that he will not block it this time. So this time the door is open. The path is clear it seems. But here is the problem with that story. In January of this year, the exact same Andy Burnham asked to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election. The National Executive Committee, the body that decides which candidates Labour endorses, voted eight to one to block him. The same Burnham. The same threat to Starmer. The same internal politics. And yet four months later, the door that was nailed shut is suddenly open. Well, why’s that then? Something has changed. And what has changed is not Burnham's politics, and not Starmer's lack of an appetite for any kind of rival. What has changed is the seat. Let me explain who Josh Simons is first and foremost if you aren’t familiar with him, and let’s face it, when it comes to all but the most frontline politicians, few of us are, because this matters, and the coverage so far has been remarkably quiet about it. Simons is not some random backbencher who has decided, on principle, to give up his career for the good of the party. Until February of this year, Simons ran Labour Together. Labour Together is the internal Labour faction, the think tank and organising operation, that played the central role in getting Keir Starmer elected leader after Jeremy Corbyn. It is the Starmer machine. It is the operation that built the takeover. Josh Simons, a Labour MP, has resigned, triggering a by-election. This latest news is widely reported as a strategic move to allow Andy Burnham to re-enter Parliament and potentially challenge Keir Starmer's leadership. This development sparks significant political analysis and current affairs discussions within the Labour party. ►SOURCES: THE CANARY/SKWAWKBOX: Labour Together saboteur Simons quits seat — for Burnham; Will Labour’s NEC rig leadership for Streeting?; McDonnell claims Streeting leadership run is Mandelson-McSweeney’s revenge on Starmer LABOURLIST: Josh Simons resigns: Andy Burnham Makerfield by-election; Andy Burnham Gorton and Denton by-election blocked; Labour leadership election rules: Keir Starmer challenger; Wes Streeting resigns Cabinet: Keir Starmer; LabourList Labour MP Starmer resignation tracker GUARDIAN: Minister commissioned investigation of journalists looking into Labour thinktank ***Subscribe to the channel here*** https://www.youtube.com/KernowDamo?sub_confirmation=1 ►ABOUT ME: Hi, I'm Damien Willey. I'm a former welder, but now I'm a writer, blogger, vlogger and presenter and interviewer with Socialist Telly (Please do go and visit what we all get up to on https://www.youtube.com/c/SocialistTelly) I'm an unpaid carer for my disabled wife and daughter and as such we know all too well the difficulties that are associated with that living in Tory Britain - both blue Tories and red ones - and I personally believe the answer lies in socialism. This channel, along with my other social media act as outlets to push back against that, to demand better of our politicians and leaders, to pull apart the media spin that supports them and the way the UK is run and to give a voice, loud as mine is, to the voiceless. ►CONTACT: Email: [email protected] ►SUPPORT: If you appreciate the importance of alternative media in the UK and enjoy my work please consider financially supporting it. Various options to suit all budgets, please visit linktr.ee/KernowDamo to find out more. Please support Independent Media. ►SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS Alternatively please share this video on your favourite social media & if you'd like to see what I get up to elsewhere, you can also find links to my presence elsewhere at linktr.ee/KernowDamo Damo Rants Kernow Damo Keir Starmer,Political News,Current Affairs,Political Infighting,Political Strategy,Parliament,Political Commentary,Political Scandal,Andy Burnham,UK Politics,Labour Party,News Analysis,House of Commons,British Politics,Opposition,Media Bias,Westminster,UK Government,starmer,burnham,makerfield,josh simons,wes streeting,labour together,morgan mcsweeney,peter mandelson,british politics,makerfield by election,kernow damo,damo rants,damo