Chaos for Keir Starmer as senior Labour figures erupt over huge mistakes

Sir Keir Starmer has been warned by senior Labour figures to stop making mistakes as Reform UK surges. Labour MP Emily Thornberry, a potential contender in the battle to succeed Angela Rayner as deputy leader, said the Prime Minister risks having to "hand out country" to Nigel Farage.

Ms Thornberry told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “Domestically, things just don’t seem to be working … People hear about the mistakes. And the question is, why are we making these mistakes? We can’t afford to keep doing this, because we’ve gone from having the fantastic gift from the British public of a huge majority to now being at 20% in the polls, and we will have in the next election the biggest fight of our lives coming against Farage.

"And the last thing we want is to go from a position where it was thought we would be in for two terms, to hand our country over to Farage.”

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham called for a "reset" and said the Government needs to be “listening to the heartbeat of the party”.

He told the Guardian: “Labour’s got to be less factional and more inclusive, more pluralistic.

"If he’s going to rise to the challenge ahead of us, all parts of the Labour family need to be involved and engaged in adding what they can. And certainly the Labour governments I was in worked more like that.”

It comes as Sir Keir's reshuffle following the resignation of Ms Rayner in a tax row has prompted disquiet from Labour MPs on the Left of the party.

A senior Labour source said the reshuffle was an example of “groupthink”, adding: “This is going to reinforce rather than solve their problems - the deputy contest then takes on the form of an intervention and not just filling a vacancy.”