Burnham Backs Mahmood Immigration Changes; Soft-Left Allies Run Campaign
Andy Burnham is backing Shabana Mahmood’s controversial changes to the immigration system, his allies said in an interview on Wednesday, in a blow to those in Labour who hoped to soften them. Those close to Burnham’s campaign say he will not seek to dilute the government’s migration curbs, which include ending the right to permanent refugee status. “Andy is fighting the most important by-election in half a century in the Labour-held seat with the largest Reform vote in the country,” a source close to the campaign said in an interview. “Immigration is the second most important issue there. He must show decisive leadership on this and reframe but back the reforms.”
The Burnham positioning explicitly resolves a Wednesday-evening Labour soft-left split: Angela Rayner had described Mahmood’s proposal to extend indefinite leave to remain from five to ten years as “un-British”, but Burnham’s allies have now staked out a different ground. In an email to MPs on Wednesday, Burnham’s team announced that two prominent Tribune Group MPs — Anneliese Midgley and Louise Haigh — would run the Makerfield campaign. The Guardian framing: Burnham “backed away from his previous support for the idea of rejoining the EU earlier this week, saying it was not something he wanted to see in the immediate future”. The Reform UK “open-borders Andy” attack line, was the prompting variable.