Andy Burnham says government is in ‘chaos’ and calls for early general election
Andy Burnham joins the growing number of people calling for an early general election “to restore some sanity to British politics”.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester says he believes the Conservative Party is in “chaos”.
After former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked by Prime Minister Liz Truss last Friday, and Jeremy Hunt was promptly appointed to the position just after, Mr Burnham made an appearance on Good Morning Britain ahead of the new Chancellor’s first fiscal address, where he described the number of different Chancellor’s in the last five years “an unbelievable state of affairs”.
The Mayor claimed the Conservatives had given up the right to govern, and that the party is rapidly “disintegrating” as the days go on.
When asked by GMB presenter Richard Madeley if he believes that Labour taking the reins would seem strange after the Conservatives had been in power for so long, Mr Burnham denied that would be the case, saying “not at all”.
He said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has “made the case for a Labour government” at the party’s recent conference.
“He set out his stall, he did so very effectively at the Labour Conference, basically the Conservative party has been disintegrating,” Mr Burnham said in response.
“It needs to look itself in the mirror today and ask itself whether it has actually got what it takes to govern this country.
“I am at Greater Manchester Green summit today and I was just working out that we have had six chancellors of the exchequer in the five years we have been holding these summits. It is an unbelievable state of affairs, I think they have given up the right to govern such is the chaos they are in, and we should actually start looking to an early general election to restore some sanity to British politics.
“Keir Starmer is clearly the person that is bringing that.”
Read more:
- Kwasi Kwarteng sacked as Chancellor by Liz Truss after mini-budget backlash
- Jeremy Hunt undoes ‘almost all’ tax cuts from Liz Truss’s mini-budget
- Andy Burnham admits he would consider running for Labour leader ‘one day’
Mr Burnham’s suggestions for a change in leader come as Prime Minister Liz Truss is facing increasing calls to step down from the role, and also come after a petition demanding an “immediate general election” had surpassed 100,000 signatures, and was set to be debated in Parliament.
The petition said that the public should be able to “decide who should lead us through the unprecedented crises threatening the UK”.
Featured Image – Flickr