Keir Starmer told he's toast if Andy Burnham's No10 plot fails as MPs prepare to defect

Sir Keir Starmer has been warned he could be booted out of Downing Street if Andy Burnham fails to win the Makerfield by-election as Labour braces for mass backbench defections to the Greens.

Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips told the Hay Festival "there will be a change of PM" even if the Greater Manchester Mayor does not gain a seat in Parliament.

However, she was quick to add: "I've never been to Wigan in my life, so I have absolutely no idea about the people there, so I shall go and find out. But, yes, I imagine Andy Burnham will win it, and I imagine then that the Prime Minister changes.

It comes as Green Party sources have suggested Labour backbenchers have approached Zack Polanski's party, declaring their intention to defect.

However, these talks have been paused until the outcome of the crucial by-election on June 18, reports The Telegraph.

Senior left-wing backbenchers, Norwich South MP Clive Lewis and Leeds East MP Richard Burgon were reportedly among the MPs prepared to defect.

A Green Party source said: "We are more interested in winning elections than defections. However, we know that more and more Labour voters and politicians recognise the Green Party as the most authentic party of the Left."

However, they added: "We will always talk with anyone who shares our values."

Green Party leader in Westminster Ellie Chowns said the party still intends to stand a candidate in the upcoming by-election.

The Herefordshire North MP said: "We are a political party, we exist to stand in every election. In this particular constituency, there is a question, I think, about the extent to which any party might throw the kitchen sink at a campaign.

"We threw the kitchen sink at Gorton and Denton, and we won it. Makerfield is a different kettle of fish."

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Labour lost more voters to Greens than Reform UK at local elections, damning poll reveals

A new poll has revealed Labour lost more voters at this year's local elections to the Green Party than they did to Reform UK, a shock to Sir Keir Starmer's party.

According to the YouGov poll of 1,173 people, just 46 per cent of 2024 Labour voters stayed with the party earlier this month, with 22 per cent going to Zack Polanski's party, compared to 16 per cent going to Sir Ed Davey's Liberal Democrats and just six per cent going to Nigel Farage's Reform UK.

By contrast, 33 per cent of Conservative 2024 voters went to Reform UK, with 55 per cent sticking with the Tories.

Meanwhile, the Lib Dems also kept hold of 55 per cent of their 2024 voters, with 21 per cent going to the Greens.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Holyrood set to back call for second independence referendum

MSPs are expected to back a call for Westminster to hand over the powers to allow a second Scottish independence referendum.

Scottish First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney has tabled a motion calling on the UK Government to make a Section 30 order, to devolve to Holyrood the powers needed for such a vote to take place.

It comes the day after Mr Swinney apologised to SNP members after former chief executive Peter Murrell admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the party over a 12-year period.

However, the debate – the first to take place at Holyrood since the May 7 Scottish election, makes clear the First Minister’s determination to win another referendum, despite the SNP’s failure to win an overall majority.

Successive UK governments have dismissed repeated calls from SNP first ministers for a second referendum, with Sir Keir Starmer the latest Prime Minister to rebuff such demands.

Mr Swinney insists, however, there is an "emphatic democratic mandate" for such a vote, after elections earlier this month saw the largest ever number of independence supporting MSPs voted in at the Scottish Parliament.

Wes Streeting likens tech companies to the tobacco industry - 'We've got to give our children their childhood back'

Wes Streeting has likened tech companies to the tobacco industry, and medical leaders have compared the dangers of social media to smoking, as pressure grows on ministers to impose a ban for under-16s ahead of the closure of an online safety consultation.

The Government’s Growing Up In The Online World consultation, which floated measures such an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s, app curfews and limits on addictive features, closes later today.

In his first intervention on the issue since he quit Government earlier this month, former health secretary Mr Streeting said: "Social media should be treated like tobacco, it’s extremely addictive, bad for our health, and Big Tech is borrowing the Big Tobacco playbook to avoid regulation.

"We’ve got to give our children their childhood back. A ban for under-16s must be the start, not the end.

"We have given the pen to tech moguls to write our future for us. It’s time to take the pen back."

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