30% of Britons think Burnham would do better job than Starmer as prime minister, poll suggests – UK politics live

Reform UK has announced that Matt Goodwin, the campaigner and former academic, as its candidate in Gorton and Denton.In a news release, Reform said:Matt is a leading writer, broadcaster and academic. He was made by Manchester - which he calls ‘the greatest city in the world’. He lived in the city for many years and considers it home.Matt’s family is from Manchester

Was Labour right to block Andy Burnham’s return as an MP? | Letters

The argument that it would be too costly to run a mayoral election in Manchester and run the risk of its being won by Reform UK is perfectly valid (‘Huge mistake’: Labour in turmoil as Burnham blocked from byelection race, 25 January). The problem is that that is not how the decision of the Labour party’s national executive committee will be read. And this is now a pattern.Kicking off with the foolhardy acceptance of luxury goodies from Lord Alli, fast followed by the removal of pensioners’ winter fuel payments and going on to a failure to read the runes over the grooming gangs and many other depressing own goals, this government has demonstrated a quite astonishing lack of self-awareness.Keir Starmer is now beginning to resemble, of all unlikely people, Boris Johnson in his seeming inability to grasp how badly some of his decisions – and subsequent reversals – reflect on him

‘Not surprised at all’: Fareham voters size up Suella Braverman’s Reform switch

For Jamie Jewell, the pub owner at the Golden Lion, there has been radio silence from his local MP, Suella Braverman. In January last year, the MP for Fareham and Waterlooville visited the pub, offered to help the owners with removing a protected tree that was damaging the property, and posted photos with the staff on her Facebook page and for local media.Jewell has not heard back from her since. “I’ve sent emails saying ‘we need support here’ and never received a response. Not even an acknowledgment,” Jewell said

Burnham accuses No 10 sources of lying about byelection decision

The Labour party’s civil war over the Gorton and Denton byelection has intensified after Andy Burnham accused Downing Street sources of lying about his decision to apply to stand in the Manchester seat.The Manchester mayor was reacting to suggestions by unnamed Keir Starmer allies that he had been told “in no uncertain terms” that any request to the NEC committee to put his name forward for the byelection would be refused.Responding to a post on X by ITV’s political editor, Robert Peston, which suggested sources close to the PM therefore saw Burnham’s move to stand as an explicit attempt to destabilise Starmer, Burnham wrote: “This is simply untrue.” Peston then sent a follow-up message saying a second source had backed up Burnham’s version of events, adding that Burnham was “seeking an urgent call with No 10 about the briefing”.A No 10 spokesperson said it was not true that anyone close to Starmer had told Burnham the NEC would refuse his application

Labour’s Gorton and Denton byelection campaign hit by fallout from ‘vile’ WhatsApp chat

Labour’s campaign for a vital byelection has been dealt a fresh blow after six local councillors were found to have breached standards rules in a “vile” WhatsApp chat.Andrew Gwynne, a former health minister, was suspended last year over offensive messages he sent in the “Trigger Me Timbers” group, including one saying he hoped a 72-year-old woman “croaks it” before an election.Six Labour councillors have now been found to have shown “complete disregard” for standards in public life, the Guardian has learned – including one judged to have made “several remarks that a reasonable person would find racist”.The findings of a damning independent investigation into the WhatsApp group are due to be considered by councillors next week, less than four weeks before the Gorton and Denton byelection expected on 26 February.Gwynne apologised again last week for messages he sent as he announced his retirement as the MP for the south-east Manchester seat

Deacon Blue ‘appalled’ by Reform UK’s Scottish leader quoting their song lyrics

One of Scotland’s most celebrated rock bands, Deacon Blue, say they are “appalled” that one of their greatest hits is being used by Reform UK’s new Scottish leader to bolster his party’s “poisonous rhetoric”.Malcolm Offord quoted at length on Monday from the group’s song Dignity at his first major speech since he was announced as Reform UK’s first Scottish leader, three months before a crucial Holyrood election in which the party is expected to win up to 18 seats.Responding overnight from Perth, Australia, where the band are embarking on a two-week tour with songs from their new album, The Great Western Road, Deacon Blue told the Guardian: “Once a song is released into the world it can be sung, listened to and loved or hated by anyone; that is just the nature of releasing a song.“However, it appals us to see the lyrics of any of our songs being used to bolster a campaign and ideology which is completely at odds with what the song, and we as a band, believe”.Describing it as “one of my favourite songs”, the multimillionaire financier said the lyrics encapsulated his own journey from growing up in modest circumstances on the Clyde and admiring the yachts he “couldn’t afford to sail”, to making his money in the City of London and now being able to afford several yachts of his own