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  "path": "/2026/05/18/david-lammy-stumbles-endless-football-metaphors-supporting-starmer-28417248/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-18T11:08:20.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "Andy Burnham",
    "David Lammy",
    "Labour Party",
    "Sir Keir Starmer",
    "supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo",
    "great wave of political drama",
    "Wes Streeting",
    "Sky News",
    "Keir Starmer",
    "Manchester",
    "Everton",
    "Sunderland",
    "ITV",
    "check our news page",
    "Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source"
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  "textContent": "To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\nThe sporting metaphor is an essential piece of equipment for politicians to keep in their kit bag.\n\nMaking a speech without one these days is like trying to drive across the fairway with a putter – it simply doesn’t hit as hard.\n\nBut be warned, try too hard to cram those metaphors into somewhere they don’t belong and you may as well be playing snooker with a javelin… or something.\n\nEnough of that. You may have noticed that the great wave of political drama over the past week-and-a-half has brought with it a wealth of slightly tortured analogies.\n\nWes Streeting caught the most attention by tweeting: ‘We need our best players on the pitch. There is no doubt that Andy Burnham is one of them.’\n\nHowever, it was Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy who reached transcendence with an extraordinary spillage during an appearance on Sky News this morning.\n\nChastising Labour MPs for backing efforts to overthrow Sir Keir Starmer, he told presenter Sophy Ridge: ‘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\nIt might not be a ringing compliment for Labour to imply they were somehow scoring own goals without even being on the pitch.\n\nAndy Burnham out for a jog in a classic Everton kit from the 1979/80 season\n\nThis was just the latest example of football infiltrating the seismic Makerfield by-election campaign, despite it having not yet officially started.\n\nOf course, the result of the vote will determine whether Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, gets the seat in the House of Commons which would allow him to challenge Starmer for the leadership.\n\nNews cameras have captured the mayor out on a morning run several times in the past week, always wearing a classic Everton shirt.\n\nYesterday evening, Burnham tweeted about watching the Scouse club’s 3-1 defeat to Sunderland and speaking to punters who were also in attendance.\n\nAnd in an interview with ITV News, he said he wanted to ‘get rid’ of VAR tech, arguing: ‘You can’t celebrate a goal because you think someone, somewhere in an industrial unit is going to rule it out.’\n\nWith that point of view, he may clash with another top Labour figure who told **Metro** in April 2024: ‘I would change the offside rule.\n\n‘I wouldn’t change VAR, I’d change the offside rule to make it more beneficial for the attacking team.’\n\nThat figure? Correct: Sir Keir Starmer.\n\nFor his part, the PM ditched any imagery to say plainly this morning that he would be sticking around ‘to serve my country and carry out my duties’.\n\nHe also said he would be backing the Labour candidate in Makerfield – to be officially confirmed on Sunday – ‘100%’, arguing it will be a case of ‘Labour versus Reform’.\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "David Lammy stumbles through endless football metaphors while supporting Starmer"
}