Andy Burnham accused of undermining Yvette Cooper's attempt to build national consensus on refugee crisis by sending 'unedifying' message
'Someone should tell him not everything is about the Labour leadership' - party sources say MPs who previously backed Burnham are rethinking their decision
Your support helps us to tell the story
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
Louise Thomas
Editor
A bitter row over the Syrian refugee crisis has erupted in the Labour leadership election after Andy Burnham was accused of undermining Yvette Cooper's efforts to build a national consensus by squabbling over who was the first candidate to demand a change of Government policy.
A source from a rival camp accused him of sending an “unedifying” and divisive message to the public after he claimed on Sky News that he “called the day before [Yvette Cooper] for Britain to take our fair share”.
He then took to Twitter to add: "I’ve been saying all summer that the government should be doing more, I’ve been saying that through the hustings.”
Another senior Labour party source revealed that his actions over the last few days had led some MPs who had backed Mr Burnham to rethink their decision and are considering voting for Ms Cooper instead.
"Someone should tell him not everything is about the Labour leadership,” the source said. “Andy seems to have gone backwards in this campaign while Yvette has been more and more impressive - particularly her stance on refugees.”
Ms Cooper made a speech on Tuesday calling on Mr Cameron to take in almost 10,000 Syrian refugees, suggesting this number could be achieved if every town in the UK accepted just 10 families each.
A source from her camp said: "Senior Parliamentary Labour party colleagues [are] saying to me - 'This is getting stupid - Andy has now crow-barred himself onto Sky with a mixed message about an emergency debate he can't force. It’s so unedifying - we're trying to build a national consensus on refugees.
“I can't quite actually believe Andy today - there are times when there are more important things going on than even labour leadership elections."
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments