Lammy dismisses Streeting’s call for UK to rejoin EU as ‘sixth form’ debating position
Good morning. Harold Wilson was right; a week is a long time etc etc. Seven days ago, the biggest threat to Keir Starmer was a half-baked challenge from Catherine West. A week on, with Andy Burnham on a viable path back to Westminster within the next few weeks, it now seems more likely than not that Burnham will be prime minister by the autumn, perhaps earlier, and that Keir Starmer will be out.
We are likely to hear from Starmer himself this morning. In the meantime, David Lammy, the deputy PM, has been doing a broadcast round. As Peter Walker reports, Lammy has insisted that Starmer is not about to set out a timetable for his departure.
This is the public position. But, in private, Starmer’s position seems to be a bit more nuanced; in his story from yesterday, Kiran Stacey quoted a friend of Starmer’s as saying: “[Starmer’s] position is not ‘I will stand, come what may’. It depends on what happens, but at the same time it’s about not rushing to positions that might suit particular other factions in the Labour party.”
Burnham is not the only candidate to be next Labour leader. Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, wants the job too and at the weekend he declared that he wanted to see the UK rejoin the EU.
Burnham’s allies interpreted this as a hostile act because it puts Burnham under pressure to either endorse the idea, which won’t be popular in Makerfield, the leave-voting constituency where he wants to fight the byelection, or to distance himself from it (despite the fact that he is on the record as also saying the UK should rejoin eventually), which won’t be popular with Labour’s pro-EU membership.
In his interview on the Today programme, Lammy dismissed this a “sixth form debate”. Asked about Europe, he said that Labour was elected on a manifesto that ruled out joining the single market or the customs union. Asked what should be in the next manifesto, he said he did not want to discuss something that might be three years away. He also said Labour should be focusing on delivery, not on internal arguments.
We have the opportunity of a lifetime to deliver on behalf of the British people. This is not a sixth form debate. It is delivery on behalf of the British people.
Asked what he meant by a sixth form debate, he replied:
Across the country in sixth forms, you can discuss what the position should be on Europe.
Lammy also claimed that Labour could not afford for this sort of internal debate to last much longer.
I say to colleagues, 10 days of this fine, I think the British people will forgive us for the introspection. Ten weeks of this and we’re in desperate trouble, we will be out of office, and what will be ushering in is [Nigel] Farage.
In one respect, the “sixth form debate” line sounded a patronising way to describe a key question facing Britain’s future. But, in another respect, Lammy was right to argue that debating EU membership now is not particularly relevant. There is no way that Brussels would want to open serious talks on re-entry with a country where there is a strong prospect of Reform UK forming the next government and, as the (pro-British) Polish foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, recently warned, EU members think there is no point holding negotiations until the British realise that any future membership deal won’t be as good as the one we had before.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Keir Starmer is expected to speak to the media while on a visit with the new health secretary, James Murray.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Lunchtime: Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor and potential Labour candidate for Makerfield, is due to speak at the Great North Investment Summit in Leeds.
Early afternoon: Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, speaks at the RCN conference.
2.30pm: MPs resume their debate on the king’s speech, focusing on business.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
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In their story, Steven Swinford and Geraldine Scott say:
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Rayner’s team was contacted by No 10 on Thursday after Streeting left the government with an extraordinary resignation letter in which he condemned the prime minister’s lack of vision and the “drift” of his government …
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Starmer has repeatedly said that he wanted her to return to his cabinet and the settling of her dispute with HMRC clears a path back to frontline politics.
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However, a government source said that Rayner’s allies made clear during discussions on Thursday afternoon that she would not be interested in returning to Starmer’s cabinet.
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Starmer and Rayner did not directly discuss the proposal with each other, the Times says.
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Matt Vickers, the Conservative party deputy chair, has confirmed that the party will put up a candidate in the Makerfield byelection – despite some in the party saying it should stand aside for Reform UK.
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In a story for the Telegraph, Nick Gutteridge and Pieter Snapvengers say Tory HQ has been under pressure to stand down in Makerfield – in return for Reform UK agreeing to stand down in Aberdeen South, where a byelection is also due and where the Conservative party has a better chance.
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Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP and father of the Commons, told the paper:
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If doing some kind of deal means we can win Aberdeenshire and save the union then it’s worth doing.
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My view is that if at the next general election – and I’ve said this again and again – there are two rightwing parties slugging it off in every single constituency, as night follows day there will be a leftwing government.
\n
And if in any by-election there will be two rightwing parties fighting each other then, as night follows day, there will be leftwing victory.
\n
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But Vickers told Sky News this morning:
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We’re going to be putting forward our pitch. The reality is people in Makerfield who want to see the welfare state reduced, so the system actually works for people… those people are going to have a choice on that ballot paper. They can go out there and vote for Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives.
\n
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Local election results suggest Reform UK in theory should be on course to win Makerfield, where Labour’s Josh Simons resigned to free up a seat for Andy Burnham, quite easily. But Burnham is remarkably popular in the Greater Manchester area, and some election experts think that his personal appeal will outweigh the disadvantage of being the Labour candidate. Election Maps UK has produced this forecast, based on polling from Gorton and Denton where people were asked, after the byelection, if they would have voted differently if Burnham had been on the ballot.
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Makerfield By-Election Forecast:
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With Burnham:
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LAB: 45%
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RFM: 42%
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Without Burnham:
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RFM: 53%
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LAB: 27%
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Via @Survation
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There will be a byelection in Aberdeen South because the SNP’s Stephen Flynn has to give up his seat after being elected to the Scottish parliament. In 2024 Flynn had a majority of 3,758 over Labour, with the Conservative candidate just 155 votes behind.
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In almost all his interviews this morning, David Lammy, the deputy PM, urged Labour to abandon infighting, warning that if the party did not unite, it would pave the way for a Reform UK election victory.
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He told Sky News:
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Now is the time to stop the own goals, to get on the pitch, to pass the ball amongst ourselves, to play in the right direction, to score some goals on behalf of the British public.
\n
Introspection and internecine warfare – effectively, some of our colleagues lighting the match and standing in the petrol – that is not what’s going to deliver for the British people.
\n
That’s not what’s going to deliver for the British people. What that will usher in is Farage.
\n
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Good morning. Harold Wilson was right; a week is a long time etc etc. Seven days ago, the biggest threat to Keir Starmer was a half-baked challenge from Catherine West. A week on, with Andy Burnham on a viable path back to Westminster within the next few weeks, it now seems more likely than not that Burnham will be prime minister by the autumn, perhaps earlier, and that Keir Starmer will be out.
“,”elementId”:”ceb6e8e7-9dec-478a-8db7-4c2afb2e48d0″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
We are likely to hear from Starmer himself this morning. In the meantime, David Lammy, the deputy PM, has been doing a broadcast round. As Peter Walker reports, Lammy has insisted that Starmer is not about to set out a timetable for his departure.
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This is the public position. But, in private, Starmer’s position seems to be a bit more nuanced; in his story from yesterday, Kiran Stacey quoted a friend of Starmer’s as saying: “[Starmer’s] position is not ‘I will stand, come what may’. It depends on what happens, but at the same time it’s about not rushing to positions that might suit particular other factions in the Labour party.”
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Burnham is not the only candidate to be next Labour leader. Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, wants the job too and at the weekend he declared that he wanted to see the UK rejoin the EU.
“,”elementId”:”c05d4d2e-923d-441c-b313-e5ef5d4f55df”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”Top of Labour in row over EU as Nandy challenges Streeting’s remarks”,”elementId”:”529aaf87-5b37-45a6-85ab-861da80a6bbe”,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/17/culture-secretary-lisa-nandy-says-wes-streeting-rejoin-eu-call-odd”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Burnham’s allies interpreted this as a hostile act because it puts Burnham under pressure to either endorse the idea, which won’t be popular in Makerfield, the leave-voting constituency where he wants to fight the byelection, or to distance himself from it (despite the fact that he is on the record as also saying the UK should rejoin eventually), which won’t be popular with Labour’s pro-EU membership.
“,”elementId”:”f760a2f9-14cb-43d4-9458-338b4d567f27″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
In his interview on the Today programme, Lammy dismissed this a “sixth form debate”. Asked about Europe, he said that Labour was elected on a manifesto that ruled out joining the single market or the customs union. Asked what should be in the next manifesto, he said he did not want to discuss something that might be three years away. He also said Labour should be focusing on delivery, not on internal arguments.
“,”elementId”:”4500bd6f-435f-4f0c-b2e8-9ee86d892fd5″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement”,”html”:”
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We have the opportunity of a lifetime to deliver on behalf of the British people. This is not a sixth form debate. It is delivery on behalf of the British people.
\n
“,”elementId”:”603ed3f7-7be3-4fb1-8e9e-c4957dfd41e4″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Asked what he meant by a sixth form debate, he replied:
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Across the country in sixth forms, you can discuss what the position should be on Europe.
\n
“,”elementId”:”1e63dada-f8fe-4998-a01b-032acf0ea7c5″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Lammy also claimed that Labour could not afford for this sort of internal debate to last much longer.
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I say to colleagues, 10 days of this fine, I think the British people will forgive us for the introspection. Ten weeks of this and we’re in desperate trouble, we will be out of office, and what will be ushering in is [Nigel] Farage.
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“,”elementId”:”88b2984e-4183-4a61-a456-3b294d4141b1″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
In one respect, the “sixth form debate” line sounded a patronising way to describe a key question facing Britain’s future. But, in another respect, Lammy was right to argue that debating EU membership now is not particularly relevant. There is no way that Brussels would want to open serious talks on re-entry with a country where there is a strong prospect of Reform UK forming the next government and, as the (pro-British) Polish foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, recently warned, EU members think there is no point holding negotiations until the British realise that any future membership deal won’t be as good as the one we had before.
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Here is the agenda for the day.
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Morning: Keir Starmer is expected to speak to the media while on a visit with the new health secretary, James Murray.
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11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
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Lunchtime: Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor and potential Labour candidate for Makerfield, is due to speak at the Great North Investment Summit in Leeds.
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Early afternoon: Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, speaks at the RCN conference.
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2.30pm: MPs resume their debate on the king’s speech, focusing on business.
“,”elementId”:”762051c8-f854-42f8-94f4-56ca9d08b6da”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
“,”elementId”:”9052a4ce-7a97-4455-8ca5-076b5ec9fc6b”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
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I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
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Key events
Rayner rejected offer from No 10 to replace Streeting as health secretary, report claims
Angela Rayner was asked by No 10 last week if she would like to replace Wes Streeting as health secretary, the Times reports.
In their story, Steven Swinford and Geraldine Scott say:
Rayner’s team was contacted by No 10 on Thursday after Streeting left the government with an extraordinary resignation letter in which he condemned the prime minister’s lack of vision and the “drift” of his government …
Starmer has repeatedly said that he wanted her to return to his cabinet and the settling of her dispute with HMRC clears a path back to frontline politics.
However, a government source said that Rayner’s allies made clear during discussions on Thursday afternoon that she would not be interested in returning to Starmer’s cabinet.
Starmer and Rayner did not directly discuss the proposal with each other, the Times says.
Tory deputy chair confirms party will fight Makerfield byelection – despite calls for it stand aside for Reform UK
Matt Vickers, the Conservative party deputy chair, has confirmed that the party will put up a candidate in the Makerfield byelection – despite some in the party saying it should stand aside for Reform UK.
In a story for the Telegraph, Nick Gutteridge and Pieter Snapvengers say Tory HQ has been under pressure to stand down in Makerfield – in return for Reform UK agreeing to stand down in Aberdeen South, where a byelection is also due and where the Conservative party has a better chance.
Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP and father of the Commons, told the paper:
If doing some kind of deal means we can win Aberdeenshire and save the union then it’s worth doing.
My view is that if at the next general election – and I’ve said this again and again – there are two rightwing parties slugging it off in every single constituency, as night follows day there will be a leftwing government.
And if in any by-election there will be two rightwing parties fighting each other then, as night follows day, there will be leftwing victory.
But Vickers told Sky News this morning:
We’re going to be putting forward our pitch. The reality is people in Makerfield who want to see the welfare state reduced, so the system actually works for people… those people are going to have a choice on that ballot paper. They can go out there and vote for Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives.
Local election results suggest Reform UK in theory should be on course to win Makerfield, where Labour’s Josh Simons resigned to free up a seat for Andy Burnham, quite easily. But Burnham is remarkably popular in the Greater Manchester area, and some election experts think that his personal appeal will outweigh the disadvantage of being the Labour candidate. Election Maps UK has produced this forecast, based on polling from Gorton and Denton where people were asked, after the byelection, if they would have voted differently if Burnham had been on the ballot.
Makerfield By-Election Forecast:
With Burnham:
LAB: 45%
RFM: 42%
Without Burnham:
RFM: 53%
LAB: 27%
Via @Survation
There will be a byelection in Aberdeen South because the SNP’s Stephen Flynn has to give up his seat after being elected to the Scottish parliament. In 2024 Flynn had a majority of 3,758 over Labour, with the Conservative candidate just 155 votes behind.
Lammy warns Labour it will ‘usher in Farage’ unless it abandons infighting
In almost all his interviews this morning, David Lammy, the deputy PM, urged Labour to abandon infighting, warning that if the party did not unite, it would pave the way for a Reform UK election victory.
He told Sky News:
Now is the time to stop the own goals, to get on the pitch, to pass the ball amongst ourselves, to play in the right direction, to score some goals on behalf of the British public.
Introspection and internecine warfare – effectively, some of our colleagues lighting the match and standing in the petrol – that is not what’s going to deliver for the British people.
That’s not what’s going to deliver for the British people. What that will usher in is Farage.
The Labour MP Jonathan Hinder told the Today programme this morning that for Wes Streeting to suggest the UK should rejoin the EU was a “staggering level of out of touch”.
Hinder said:
We are just over a week after we took a real beating in our working-class heartlands.
It’s a very long list – we’re talking about the Hartlepools, the Grimsbys, Barnsley, places like Wigan, where this byelection is going to be, and we were losing to a party [Reform UK] which until recently was called the Brexit party.
And to suggest the solution now is for us to reopen that debate is just staggering, and the Labour party is in an existential crisis, it really is, and the idea that we can reconnect to our working-class base by reopening this debate is just a staggering level of out of touch.
Lammy dismisses Streeting’s call for UK to rejoin EU as ‘sixth form’ debating position
Good morning. Harold Wilson was right; a week is a long time etc etc. Seven days ago, the biggest threat to Keir Starmer was a half-baked challenge from Catherine West. A week on, with Andy Burnham on a viable path back to Westminster within the next few weeks, it now seems more likely than not that Burnham will be prime minister by the autumn, perhaps earlier, and that Keir Starmer will be out.
We are likely to hear from Starmer himself this morning. In the meantime, David Lammy, the deputy PM, has been doing a broadcast round. As Peter Walker reports, Lammy has insisted that Starmer is not about to set out a timetable for his departure.
This is the public position. But, in private, Starmer’s position seems to be a bit more nuanced; in his story from yesterday, Kiran Stacey quoted a friend of Starmer’s as saying: “[Starmer’s] position is not ‘I will stand, come what may’. It depends on what happens, but at the same time it’s about not rushing to positions that might suit particular other factions in the Labour party.”
Burnham is not the only candidate to be next Labour leader. Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, wants the job too and at the weekend he declared that he wanted to see the UK rejoin the EU.
Burnham’s allies interpreted this as a hostile act because it puts Burnham under pressure to either endorse the idea, which won’t be popular in Makerfield, the leave-voting constituency where he wants to fight the byelection, or to distance himself from it (despite the fact that he is on the record as also saying the UK should rejoin eventually), which won’t be popular with Labour’s pro-EU membership.
In his interview on the Today programme, Lammy dismissed this a “sixth form debate”. Asked about Europe, he said that Labour was elected on a manifesto that ruled out joining the single market or the customs union. Asked what should be in the next manifesto, he said he did not want to discuss something that might be three years away. He also said Labour should be focusing on delivery, not on internal arguments.
We have the opportunity of a lifetime to deliver on behalf of the British people. This is not a sixth form debate. It is delivery on behalf of the British people.
Asked what he meant by a sixth form debate, he replied:
Across the country in sixth forms, you can discuss what the position should be on Europe.
Lammy also claimed that Labour could not afford for this sort of internal debate to last much longer.
I say to colleagues, 10 days of this fine, I think the British people will forgive us for the introspection. Ten weeks of this and we’re in desperate trouble, we will be out of office, and what will be ushering in is [Nigel] Farage.
In one respect, the “sixth form debate” line sounded a patronising way to describe a key question facing Britain’s future. But, in another respect, Lammy was right to argue that debating EU membership now is not particularly relevant. There is no way that Brussels would want to open serious talks on re-entry with a country where there is a strong prospect of Reform UK forming the next government and, as the (pro-British) Polish foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, recently warned, EU members think there is no point holding negotiations until the British realise that any future membership deal won’t be as good as the one we had before.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Keir Starmer is expected to speak to the media while on a visit with the new health secretary, James Murray.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Lunchtime: Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor and potential Labour candidate for Makerfield, is due to speak at the Great North Investment Summit in Leeds.
Early afternoon: Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, speaks at the RCN conference.
2.30pm: MPs resume their debate on the king’s speech, focusing on business.
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