'Burnham will push to be next PM' and 'Dosh and Becks'
Supporters of Andy Burnham have told The Guardian that the Greater Manchester mayor will push to become Labour's leader by the autumn, so he can address its September conference as prime minister. The paper reports that allies of Burnham believe he can win a leadership election before the summer recess, however sources close to the mayor suggest he favours a longer timeline.
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph claims loyalists who support the prime minister believe Sir Keir Starmer could resign if Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election and is the only leadership challenger. The paper says Sir Keir is much less defiant in private than in public, but fears standing down now could trigger a "free for all" which would result in "chaos".
The i Paper suggests Burnham would downplay his support for closer European integration if he became prime minister, to avoid alienating Reform UK voters. And Reform's leader, Nigel Farage, warns readers that if the Greater Manchester mayor believes he can "use local people to waltz in as leader", the by-election will "give him a very nasty shock".
The prime minister, fighting for his political life, is preparing to agree an £18bn increase to defence spending, the Times reports. Sir Keir Starmer recently received a letter from Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, saying that UK wouldn't retain its place in the world without higher spending, the article says.
A Labour source tells the Mail that Morgan McSweeney, the aide who resigned after his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US, has told Sir Keir that he must block Burnham's selection as a candidate in the by-election. Burnham would challenge and beat Sir Keir and the UK would have a left-wing government that "nobody voted for and that could bankrupt the country", the article says.
The Sun's editorial laments that Britain is "doomed to a summer of uncertainty, economic stagnation and paralysis" while "the Prime Minister tries, and almost certainly fails, to shore up his bunker".
Senior civil servants and ministers have warned the Financial Times that parts of the government are at risk of paralysis, as any forthcoming leadership battle would overtake a policy agenda. "We will have months where the business of daily government will have to grind to a halt" one unnamed cabinet minister tells the paper.
The Mirror is one of several papers to report that Sir David Beckham is Britain's first billionaire sportsman after he and his wife Lady Victoria doubled their fortune in the last year. "Dosh and Becks" is the headline in the Star.
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