Labour back in EU la-la land: Burnham allies accuse rival Streeting of talking up Brexit reversal to sabotage by-election with 'worse than 50-50' chance of winning

By JAMES TAPSFIELD, UK POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 08:09, 18 May 2026 | Updated: 08:21, 18 May 2026 Labour descended deeper into chaos today as Andy Burnham's allies accused rivals of trying to sabotage his crucial by-election battle. Supporters of the Greater Manchester mayor lashed out after leadership contender Wes Streeting voiced support for rejoining the EU. That highlighted Mr Burnham's own strident views on reversing Brexit - seen as deeply unhelpful when he is wrestling Reform in the Eurosceptic seat of Makerfield. Victory would be a springboard to taking over from Keir Starmer. The spat came amid rising anxiety in Labour ranks at the consequences if the contest - likely to be on June 18 - is lost.  Even fans of Mr Burnham say his chances of success could be worse than 50-50, with polls having consistently shown Nigel Farage's outfit on track to win.  Despite the race to replace him being in full swing, Sir Keir is not expected to concede he will have to quit or set out a timetable. Instead the premier will wait to see whether Mr Burnham can get back into the Commons.  Deputy PM David Lammy acknowledged this morning that the aftermath of disastrous local elections had been a 'spectacular own goal'. In other twists and turns today: Andy Burnham was campaigning in Makerfield with Labour's deputy leader Lucy Powell yesterday  Mr Streeting, who dramatically quit as Health Secretary last week, signalled he wanted to see Britain return to the EU in a speech on Saturday Attempting to rally the party together, Mr Lammy told Sky News: 'This is a Labour by-election. We've got quite threatened votes, Reform will be challenging hard. 'I've known Andy Burnham for over a quarter of a century. We were both proteges of the wonderful Tessa Jowell. 'We worked together all those years ago under Tony Blair. He will be a great addition to parliament for Makerfield. He has my full support. 'I will be up there, much of the Cabinet will be up there of course, the Labour movement will be up there to make sure we win.' Mr Streeting, who dramatically quit as Health Secretary last week, signalled he wanted to see Britain return to the EU in a speech on Saturday.  The Blairite also declared he will stand in any Labour leadership contest.  Mr Burnham sought to play down his own stated support for rejoining the bloc as he took part in a media blitz across the weekend. He insisted there was a 'long-term case' for advocating to join the EU, but insisted he was not campaigning on that issue in the by-election. Nigel Farage has branded the Greater Manchester Mayor 'open borders Burnham'. The Reform leader told the Mail: 'It's obvious Andy Burnham wants to say one thing to Labour voters in Makerfield while telling Labour MPs something entirely different as he positions himself for power. 'Reform will ensure the voters know exactly where Burnham stands on rejoining the EU.' Nigel Farage has branded the Greater Manchester Mayor 'open borders Burnham' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.