Andy Burnham has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government as “too negative” and “too factional” in a wide-ranging interview.
The Prime Minister spoke to former Tory MP Rory Stewart and New Labour spin doctor Alistair Campbell on everything from Brexit to Manchester City for the pair’s Rest Is Politics podcast, which will be released tomorrow.
Mr Burnham turned his fire on Sir Keir, who he replaced in No10 in July.
He said: “I think there was too much negativity around Keir.
“I don't think you can run a successful Labour government without all parts of it feeling they've got a place in it or a voice in it.
“For all of the criticism of the new Labour era that you [Alastair] and I were involved in, all voices were heard, weren't they?
"Dennis Skinner would play his part, John Prescott, you know.
“And I felt that wasn't where it was. It was too negative. It was too factional at times.”
“That's why I had concerns that it wasn't then able to really make its full force be felt, because not all parts of the movement were leaning together.”
Mr Burnham first spoke out ahead of last year’s Labour Party Conference before he was rebuked by Sir Keir and other Cabinet ministers.
He then attempted to run in the Gorton and Denton by-election but was blocked, before eventually returning as MP for Makerfield when the pressure for change got too great.
Mr Burnham added: “We have a regard for each other. I certainly do for Keir, even at the time of the Gorton and Denton issues.
“I was very clear in talking to Keir through that, wanting to talk to him. We spoke shortly after it, and we've never let our relationship disintegrate."
Mr Burnham also said that the UK is “clear” there was Russian interference in the Brexit referendum.
He said that when he entered No 10 in the summer, he had asked whether Moscow interfered in the 2016 vote on whether to leave the EU and was given “the clear answer that yes there was”.
The Prime Minister said he believes it is important to put this “clearly on the record” to help voters in Germany and France understand “some of this politics is instigated via our enemies”, amid the rise of far-right parties in those countries.
He also committed to publishing all of his meetings with the Manchester City owners during his time as mayor of Greater Manchester.
City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations between 2009 and 2018. The club maintained their innocence and appealed against the verdict.
Mr Burnham said last month he would be “really concerned” if City’s Abu Dhabi owners sold the club in the wake of the finding, crediting them with being “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester”.
Mr Burnham said he would “put out there” everything he had done to work with the club’s owners as mayor, adding: “I only had one significant meeting, actually, and that was in 2021.”