No 10 says Starmer ‘will not walk away’ if Burnham officially enters Labour leadership contest - UK politics live

From 1h agoOpening summary: Lammy comes out in defence of Starmer after Burnham confirms leadership ambitions

Hello and welcome to our UK politics blog.

David Lammy has come out in support of the prime minister, saying Keir Starmer would fight in a leadership contest after Andy Burnham said he would join one if elected an MP.

“There is no contest at the moment, and my view is it would be a huge distraction at this time,” the deputy prime minister told LBC this morning.

“The prime minister, by the way, has been absolutely clear: if there is a contest, he’ll be in it.”

He added: “I’ve supported every leader of the Labour party. They’ve had my full loyalty. Keir Starmer has got my loyalty, full loyalty, until the day he no longer wishes to serve.”

His remarks came after the Greater Manchester mayor announced he would challenge the prime minister should there be a leadership race. It was the first time Burnham, who is standing in the Makerfield byelection, has publicly said he would consider launching a bid to become the Labour leader.

Appearing on Question Time last night, he said: “I think Wes Streeting seems to have launched a leadership contest, so if that is running, I would seek to join it. But I’d have to persuade members of the Parliamentary Labour Party to do the same.”

Hitting back at Burnham, Downing Street issued statement saying Starmer “will not walk away”, adding: “The country expects us to focus on governing and to deliver change for hard-working people, not get distracted by Westminster debates.”

In an interview with the Guardian’s political editor Pippa Crerar, Burnham signalled he would begin transforming England’s broken social care system this year if he became prime minister.

“It is urgent, the need to fix social care, and I personally would look at all of the kind of implications of that in relation to inheritance tax and care charges and everything. I wouldn’t flinch from it,” he said.

Also today, Lammy said tech billionaire Elon Musk should “step back” from tweeting about the murder of Henry Nowak amid an ongoing feud between the government and X owner.

“I think there’s an IPO this week in the States on Starlink. Elon Musk should get on with that,” Lammy told Sky News.

“I mean, tweeting over 100 times about this tragic, horrific case … I urge Elon Musk to stay out of tweeting about this sensitive case.”

He added: “I don’t spend time on X surfing Elon Musk tweets, so I haven’t read them, but I’m not sure any of them reached the standard that require that. But I think it is appropriate for politicians to urge Elon Musk to step back.”

Starmer has accused Musk of “interfering in our politics” and attempting to create division with the numerous social media posts he has made about the murder of Nowak, many of which have used far-right themes and talking points.

a committee of cross-party MPs has warned the UK asylum system is on the brink of collapse as the government fails to cope with severe pressure.","elementId":"ad148b22-f0b5-4a6c-98db-8be6fb866dc0"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

In a report published today, the public accounts committee said the Home Office has focused on short-term fixes and was “at considerable risk of repeating past failures”.","elementId":"fcf21c3c-a789-465a-84c4-4701ff1ad79e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the committee, said:","elementId":"cc9723d0-9213-4923-b8f4-1f384d7fa7f0"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"\n

Our report provides an end-to-end snapshot of the entire asylum system, and its findings paint a disturbing picture – at the time of our inquiry, control of it had been all but lost.\n

The focus on short term, reactive ‘fixes’ has left the government chasing after pressures pushed from one part of the system to the next.\n

There is no clear strategy uniting these efforts, and engagement across departments and with local authorities is patchy at best.\n

Given senior officials’ inability to articulate what the asylum system is collectively trying to achieve, it is no wonder such a directionless bureaucracy ends with people at the heart of it either left in limbo, or lost entirely.\n","elementId":"92a7a74d-4bff-4a32-9c86-a28e77f78dc9"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

The Home Office announced a series of reforms to asylum and refugee policy, including plans for people granted asylum in the UK having their refugee status made temporary and subject to review every 30 months.","elementId":"680477c3-583c-460f-ae08-ff1e4b9d2433"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1780648984000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"10.43 CEST","blockLastUpdated":1780649896000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"10.58 CEST","blockFirstPublished":1780649896000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"10.58 CEST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"10.58","title":"UK asylum system on the brink of collapse, report warns","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Fri 5 Jun 2026 10.58 CEST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Fri 5 Jun 2026 10.02 CEST"},{"id":"6a22827e8f08eeba35d81808","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

We have more comments from David Lammy, who was on the media round this morning.","elementId":"d18803cd-0082-4789-952f-8788d44c8acd"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

He rejected the US state department’s criticism of “two-tiered policing” in the UK in relation to the murder of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak.","elementId":"4225c262-2f4f-44b5-8110-f7b2108bc789"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

The US state department weighed in after Vickrum Digwa, 23, was jailed for 21 years this week for killing Nowak in Southampton in December. Digwa stabbed Nowak five times with a Sikh ceremonial knife before telling police that Nowak had been racist towards him, causing officers to arrest and handcuff the student before they saw his fatal injuries.","elementId":"982cea2d-bfdf-449b-990c-65459484dd24"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

When asked to comment, Lammy told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t recognise this caricature of a two-tier policing system in our country.","elementId":"e882dbc7-57fb-45a0-9bb1-cc6fd9ad4114"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

“I just don’t see it in the interactions I have with policing, and so I do reject that.”","elementId":"d721f22a-85c2-4960-a945-fb098f2bccf6"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Lammy said it was “good” that police chiefs are looking at the wording of anti-racism guidance as the “public need clarity in these circumstances”.","elementId":"cf569cca-adcd-4097-abc6-4473063e70d4"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

“And it sounds like there’s not clarity fully in this area,” he added.","elementId":"b9faea4d-5ef4-4ec7-8392-bd259ccda98e"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1780646548000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"10.02 CEST","blockLastUpdated":1780647578000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"10.19 CEST","blockFirstPublished":1780647578000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"10.19 CEST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"10.19","title":"Lammy rejects US state department criticism of 'two-tier policing' in UK","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Fri 5 Jun 2026 10.58 CEST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Fri 5 Jun 2026 10.02 CEST"},{"id":"6a2273bc8f08fbbd69e19bec","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Hello and welcome to our UK politics blog.","elementId":"fd9de05d-7f8a-4ffe-b9d7-25d284cce5af"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

David Lammy has come out in support of the prime minister, saying Keir Starmer would fight in a leadership contest after Andy Burnham said he would join one if elected an MP.","elementId":"73b2f60f-6144-43c3-8868-51c0d7c73f3d"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

“There is no contest at the moment, and my view is it would be a huge distraction at this time,” the deputy prime minister told LBC this morning.","elementId":"49d125fb-6c8e-4e5c-ba28-1b2cb86a015c"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

“The prime minister, by the way, has been absolutely clear: if there is a contest, he’ll be in it.”","elementId":"07cad4b8-3cb1-4400-8965-1e0eb86bce10"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

He added: “I’ve supported every leader of the Labour party. They’ve had my full loyalty. Keir Starmer has got my loyalty, full loyalty, until the day he no longer wishes to serve.”","elementId":"f4503752-f684-4efe-a7de-43032bf12d80"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Appearing on Question Time last night, he said: “I think Wes Streeting seems to have launched a leadership contest, so if that is running, I would seek to join it. But I’d have to persuade members of the Parliamentary Labour Party to do the same.”","elementId":"106852fd-38a6-416a-8af4-66ab2cbdb26e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Hitting back at Burnham, Downing Street issued statement saying Starmer “will not walk away”, adding: “The country expects us to focus on governing and to deliver change for hard-working people, not get distracted by Westminster debates.”","elementId":"ef5afefb-a97b-4f2e-82c6-03a462bdda00"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

In an interview with the Guardian’s political editor Pippa Crerar, Burnham signalled he would begin transforming England’s broken social care system this year if he became prime minister.","elementId":"a0c2677e-3232-4bd6-bcbc-fde2527ef93d"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

“It is urgent, the need to fix social care, and I personally would look at all of the kind of implications of that in relation to inheritance tax and care charges and everything. I wouldn’t flinch from it,” he said.","elementId":"bba96c2d-6c45-4cc1-a05d-0bfdb0494f77"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Also today, Lammy said tech billionaire Elon Musk should “step back” from tweeting about the murder of Henry Nowak amid an ongoing feud between the government and X owner.","elementId":"1ded3ac7-d2c9-4e49-9bbc-270b689c610a"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

“I think there’s an IPO this week in the States on Starlink. Elon Musk should get on with that,” Lammy told Sky News.","elementId":"135b1d81-1cb4-4cf3-95df-2a28437bca6c"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

“I mean, tweeting over 100 times about this tragic, horrific case … I urge Elon Musk to stay out of tweeting about this sensitive case.”","elementId":"ad41dd5e-318c-451a-9795-e8df1f13c863"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

He added: “I don’t spend time on X surfing Elon Musk tweets, so I haven’t read them, but I’m not sure any of them reached the standard that require that. But I think it is appropriate for politicians to urge Elon Musk to step back.”","elementId":"c8020cb1-a318-41f0-bf01-27a468e37033"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Starmer has accused Musk of “interfering in our politics” and attempting to create division with the numerous social media posts he has made about the murder of Nowak, many of which have used far-right themes and talking points.","elementId":"00201810-67a8-412b-a67e-9f5723092c77"}],"attributes":{"pinned":true,"keyEvent":false,"summary":true},"blockCreatedOn":1780646548000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"10.02 CEST","blockLastUpdated":1780646560000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"10.02 CEST","blockFirstPublished":1780646548000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"10.02 CEST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"10.02","title":"Opening summary: Lammy comes out in defence of Starmer after Burnham confirms leadership ambitions","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Fri 5 Jun 2026 10.58 CEST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Fri 5 Jun 2026 10.02 CEST"}],"id":"key-events-carousel-mobile","renderingTarget":"Web","serverTime":1780650097140}">

Key events

3m ago

UK asylum system on the brink of collapse, report warns

41m ago

Lammy rejects US state department criticism of 'two-tier policing' in UK

1h ago

Opening summary: Lammy comes out in defence of Starmer after Burnham confirms leadership ambitionsUK asylum system on the brink of collapse, report warns

In other developments this morning, a committee of cross-party MPs has warned the UK asylum system is on the brink of collapse as the government fails to cope with severe pressure.

In a report published today, the public accounts committee said the Home Office has focused on short-term fixes and was “at considerable risk of repeating past failures”.

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the committee, said:

double quotation mark

Our report provides an end-to-end snapshot of the entire asylum system, and its findings paint a disturbing picture – at the time of our inquiry, control of it had been all but lost.

The focus on short term, reactive ‘fixes’ has left the government chasing after pressures pushed from one part of the system to the next.

There is no clear strategy uniting these efforts, and engagement across departments and with local authorities is patchy at best.

Given senior officials’ inability to articulate what the asylum system is collectively trying to achieve, it is no wonder such a directionless bureaucracy ends with people at the heart of it either left in limbo, or lost entirely.

The Home Office announced a series of reforms to asylum and refugee policy, including plans for people granted asylum in the UK having their refugee status made temporary and subject to review every 30 months.

Conservative MP Harriet Cross also commented on claims from the Trump administration of “two-tier policing” in the UK.

Speaking to Sky News, she said: “I think it’s clearly not helpful when we’ve got enough people within the UK itself concerned about this for other voices to add.

“But certainly … the point is that there is concern within the UK of how policing is at the moment, and what we really need is a return to common sense policing and for everyone to have equality under the law. And for whatever reason we have slipped away from that.”

Also commenting on the US state department’s statement on Nowak’s murder was Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller.

He suggested the prime minister should summon the US ambassador over the