Starmer says he will campaign for Burnham in Makerfield byelection – as it happened

Prime minister tells reporters he would campaign personally in the contest Keir Starmer has said that he will campaign for Andy Burnham in the Makerfield byelection. Speaking to reporters at an event this afternoon, Starmer was asked if he would campaign personally in the contest. He replied: double quotation markYes, and I’ve said to the whole Labour movement that I want everybody to be involved in the campaign, whatever other discussions are going on, it’s really important – that’s a straight fight between Labour and Reform. It’s about the values that we take into politics, and it’s really important that we all pull together and fight in that byelection, as we will do. This answer is more notable than a normal declaration from a party leader saying they would campaign for their candidate would be because it is widely assumed that, if Burnham wins, it won’t be long before he replaces Starmer as PM. Referring to the measures announced by Rachel Reeves today, Starmer said the government had “a very good story to tell”. And that “has only been possible because of the steps we took on the budget”, he said. Rachel Reeves will cut VAT to 5% on summer attractions su