Andy Burnham will not support allowing Jeremy Corbyn back into the Labour Party, the JC understands.
Sources close to the Mayor of Greater Manchester have told the JC that he does not back calls to allow the former Labour leader – who stood against his party as an independent candidate at the last general election in his Islington North constituency – to return to the Labour benches.
John McDonnell, Corbyn’s former shadow chancellor, made an appeal for Corbyn’s return.
"We do need to reunite the the progressive left, and Jeremy is part of that."
Labour MP John McDonnell says he told Keir Starmer to reinstate Jeremy Corbyn as a member to fend off Reform UK. pic.twitter.com/lajPLysp1t
He told Times Radio on Friday: “Jeremy does have a popular following, particularly among young people and what we need to do in face of the threat of Reform, we do need to reunite the progressive left, and Jeremy is part of that.”
He went on: “Jeremy has never wanted to be anything other than a Labour MP and he was forced out of the party and … I would welcome him back in, I think he’d be a real asset.”
Asked if he thought Andy Burnham would allow Corbyn to return, McDonnell replied that he wasn’t sure, but that he’d raise the prospect of allowing Corbyn back with any potential Labour leadership candidate.
However, the MP for Hayes and Harlington was criticised by one of his parliamentary colleagues for the suggestion.
Labour MP David Taylor commented: “Was it progressive when the Party was investigated for antisemitism under Corbyn? He was kicked out of the Party for a reason. He must never come back. If McDonnell wants to 'reunite' with him, he has other options available to him.”
Andy Burnham’s possible return to Parliament is being facilitated by Jewish former minister Josh Simons, who quit as MP for Makerfield, saying that he wanted to allow Burnham the opportunity to return to Westminster in a by-election.
In a resignation letter addressed to his constituents, Simons said he believed that Burnham is a leader who has the “radicalism, energy, and immense courage to meet the moment.
“We need to shift the power that is stacked against places like ours. As I have said, I do not believe this government is delivering the urgent, radical, brave reform we need. We need a new direction.
“I believe that Andy Burnham can provide it,” he wrote.
Though Burnham has not explicitly said he will challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership, his potential return to Parliament follows speculation over Starmer’s future in Downing Street following heavy defeats for Labour in local elections earlier this month.
Under Labour Party rules, the leader of the party must be an MP.
Last week, former health secretary Wes Streeting resigned from the government and criticised the Starmer’s “lack of vision”.
“Where we need direction, we have drift … Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords. You also need to listen to your colleagues, including backbenchers, and the heavy-handed approach to dissenting voices diminishes our politics.”
On Saturday, he confirmed that should a leadership contest take place, he would seek to stand for the position and indicated that he wanted Britain to “one day” rejoin the European Union.
In March several Labour MPs criticised the decision to block Burnham from being the party’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, which Labour subsequently lost to the Green Party’s Hannah Spencer.
At the local elections earlier this month, Makerfield voted heavily for Reform UK and Nigel Farage said on social media that he would “throw absolutely everything at it” to win the by-election.
Burnham previously served as MP for Leigh in Greater Manchester between 2001-2017, and as a cabinet minister in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He also served in the shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn, before standing down as an MP to become Mayor of Greater Manchester.
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