Burnham urged to ditch Mahmood’s migrant settlement plans to stop Labour being ‘imitation’ of Reform – UK politics live

Burnham set to be next PM with strong support from all wings of the party as 322 Labour MPs back him The former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe has died aged 78, her management has said. Kevin Rawlinson has the story. Good morning. Even the BBC has (almost) given up describing Andy Burnham as the person who is likely, or almost certain, to become the next PM. As of last night, it is now, barring something so unexpected it would be in the act of God category, a done deal. Labour published the names of the MPs who have already nominated Burnham, and he has got 322 nominations. There are only 81 Labour MPs left who have not nominated anyone. By coincidence (or not?), 81 is exactly the number of names a rival candidate would need to stand. But in Labour politics the outgoing leader does not nominate a successor, and so in practice Burnham has already cleared the threshold. It’s wrapped up; he is the next leader and PM. Continue reading...