“If He’s Got HALF A BRAIN CELL He’ll Step Down!” | Over 100 MPs Call For Keir Starmer To Quit

You are listening to Talk Breakfast.Should we give Andy Burnham a chance?Bill has messaged the show.Good morning, Bill.Happy Saturday.I hope you're having a good morning so far.

Good morning, Mark.I'll give Burnham a chance if he does the following.Close our borders, send all the illegal immigrants back, build up our armed forces, cancel the court cases against soldiers, and finally get people off of benefits and out to work.That should be on day one.Only problem, says Bill.no chance it will happen.

Bill, that is one of the nicest, most beautiful manifestos I've ever seen.So good, I'm going to read it again.This is what Bill wants from our next Prime Minister.I will give Burnham a chance if he closes our borders, sends the illegal immigrants back, builds our armed forces, cancels the court cases against soldiers, and finally gets people off benefits and out to work.Bill, You are a genius, because with that set of policies, you have fixed some of the most fundamental issues facing the country.Getting people off benefits and back to work, that will sort out the debt and economic growth.

Build up our armed forces, that's good, because that means our country can't be stolen by some dictator and we all die.Send illegal immigrants back, well, that's good, because they've broken the law and are a net cost to the economy and also to the economy.provide a threat to our safety, close the borders.I mean, seriously, Bill, bravo.Cliff says, good morning, Mark.I think Burnham is taking the Labour members for granted.

If there's a leadership contest, the members may not back him.If there's a coronation, then would he really have legitimacy?Rachel, good morning, Mark.No, says Rachel.No!We shouldn't give Burnham a chance.

I really don't understand people who seem to think things are going to be better under him.He's in this for himself, not us.By the way, I love your energy, Mark.Rachel, thank you for that.It's not natural energy.It's LucasAid sport.

Live in the studio, someone that is naturally bubbling over with life is the wonderful Emma Webb, broadcaster at the New Culture Forum.Good morning!

Good morning, Mark.Happy to be here.

So good to have you.calls for a new path for Britain and The Times.Starmer urged to stand aside.Well, the Prime Minister, we are told, this weekend, Emma, is considering his position.What do you think he should do?

Well, wouldn't we all love it if he just resigned?I mean, it's going to happen eventually, but I think it was going to be much, much worse to have Prime Minister Andy Burnham.In terms of the interest of the country, and I know that there are many people who would just like to see the back of Keir Starmer, and I think actually that's why we've seen him getting such a huge share of the vote in Makerfield, is because people just want to, you know, let Keir Starmer know what they think of him.The reality is that Andy Burnham would be a terrible Prime Minister.He will be terrible for the country.And so actually, in a sense, the longer that Keir Starmer can delay resigning and give Andy Burnham a chance to sort of lose the energy of his campaign, to let a little bit of the sparkle wear off.

You know that might be you know to the benefit of if there is a leadership contest but of course Andy Burnham is looking to, it sounds as if he's looking to give Wes Treating a senior appointment in the cabinet to avoid a leadership race.Who elsecould feasibly challenge Andy Burnham?Andy Burnham will probably win if he runs anyway.So maybe we should just rip the plaster off and Keir Starmer should just do the honourable thing and fall on his sword.

And I'm on the air on Talk Breakfast today, tomorrow and Monday.It is possible that the Prime Minister will fall on his sword.Stranger things have happened.

Well, how many times have we thought that he was about to?I mean, I can't even think of all of the examples of the times when we thought surely Keir Starmer must resign now, whether it was the local elections, whether it was the whole Mandelson saga, that's difficult to say, that's a tongue twister.You know, I think we all hope that Keir Starmer We'll resign as soon as possible because we would like to see the country improved.And as the guy who messaged in has said, who wouldn't vote for either Bill or anybody who did all of those things?I mean, I think most of us would vote even for a Labour leader if they were willing to do those things.But that isn't what Andy Burnham is all about.

I mean, he's talking about spending even more money on things like Firstly, public control of water and energy, a land value tax, national care service.I mean, how much would that cost?A programme of mass social house building.But he's also pledged to stick to the fiscal rules, to not raise income tax, national insurance, and VAT.He's going to have exactly the same problems as the current Labour government have.The only difference is that he's much further to the left, and it will be so much worse if he appoints Ed Miliband as his chancellor.

We've thought so many times that Keir Starmer was going to resign.I think the writing probably is on the wall.Apparently he's privately saying that he's going to consider this over the weekend and get back to us.He's got a big meeting planned with Andy Burnham next week.What are the chances of him resigning next week?I feel like I've said that so many times I don't want to make another false prediction.

Well I think he has to resign because the only reason you would enter that fight and threaten your legacy and embarrass yourself is if there was a chance you could win and there has to be 0 % chance that he wins a contest against Burnham.

It would be wildly embarrassing for him, and it's inevitable that he would lose.The Parliamentary Labour Party seems to be dead set against him.I mean, there's a list of people in today's papers who have apparently had these conversations with him, including Heidi Allen.The Transport Secretary, Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary has apparently pressed him to lay out a timeline for his departure.The Chief Whip has conveyed the feelings of the backbench MPs, they also want him to go.Nobody is on Keir Starmer's side, not the country, not the Labour Party and not the Parliamentary Labour Party either.

the chances of him actually...I mean, I don't think it would even necessarily be that, you know, it would be embarrassing for him to be defeated.I think he would be monumentally defeated.And this is a man who surely must be concerned about his legacy.That's not the way that any Prime Minister wants to go.

You've nailed it.And if I was Keir Starmer and I'm thinking about the optics of it and how history judges me, then I would want to own this.I would look at it because the Art of War by Sun Tzu says, don't enter a battle that you can't win.It makes no sense.So therefore, and I think that's where Starmer is, it's impossible for him to win.And therefore, I think that he can own this and look like a decent man and say, well, look, I don't want to go.

I had a mandate.We've got the breakfast clubs.I didn't join the war in Iran.I've been great.I'll see you later.

But the thing is, he didn't have a mandate.The Labour Party had a mandate.of a mandate.It was with a historically low vote share.It's true.So I don't know what kind of mandate that really is.

Most people in the country didn't vote for them.But we don't have a presidential system like the US.The country didn't vote for, I presume you didn't, we personally didn't vote for Keir Starmer.No, definitely not.The country didn't vote for Keir Starmer.is what the country voted in.

And if he were to do the honourable thing, not that he has at any point previously, but if he were to do the honourable thing and say, look, I recognise the people of Makerfield have made their voice heard.Clearly, you know, I have gone well past my best by date, and so now is the time for me to recognise the will of the people, to behave like a Democrat, and to just step down.

Yes, and I think that he can...

And possibly apologise.

Well, he probably should have apologised for everything.I'm not a fan of Sikir Starmer, that's well reported, but...I think that if he were to resign, I think there would be a degree of public sympathy, thinking, oh, God, you know, he's had a horrid two years.He did win an election with a landslide.He was the front and centre of that campaign, which was successful, notwithstanding, as you've said, I mean, the popular vote was horrible.9 .5 million people voted.

Labour, as compared to 11 .5 million, voted for Corbyn in 2017.So it, weirdly enough, wasn't a very successful election.But thanks to parliamentary arithmetic and first -past -the -post, he became PM.And he will stand down.But so we shall see how bloody -minded he is.And we'll see whether he's got any common sense or not.

If he's got half a brain cell, he'll step down.But we shall see.Someone that hasn't even got one brain cell is Carol Vorderman.Find out who she is.why she has made my blood boil next.This is Talk Breakfast 6 .30am.

Talk Breakfast 32, live in the studio, Emma Trimble, broadcaster and star of the New Culture Forum, which is a fantastic political resource for journalism, interviews, monologues and much besides.Speaking of monologues, the old Countdown superstar herself, Carol Vorderman has been celebrating Andy Burnham's victory in Makerfield.Here's a clip from her Instagram feed.And by the way, if you're of a sensitive disposition, look away now.

I'm so happy, I'm so happy, Andy Burnham wins resoundingly by about 55 % of the vote.Isn't that fantastic?So you can have everyone else together and he's still won.So no matter what the political journos bang on about splitting the far -right vote and all of this kind of thing, Andy Burnham still won.

Several things to pick up there.Nigel Farage is far -right apparently.What are Nigel Farage's policies?He wants to police the border.So every country has a border and then you decide who comes in and who doesn't.It's called a border.

It's actually the geographical and political definition of a country.A border is not an idea, it's not some far -right theory or ideology.It is the boundary of your country.And he's like, why don't we police that boundary.He probably wants to bring taxes down so we can have national income, which pays for welfare, doctors, schools, and fixing potholes.He wants to scrap the net zero target.

He's not against solar panels as such, or wind, and a mix of energy.But he doesn't see the point in this target, given the fact that China, a burningfossil fuels for fun.But according to Carol Vorderman, that is far right.That's the first thing to say.Second thing to say is this woman's track record on politics and political judgment is a disaster.

Because she is the same person that campaigned for Keir Starmer to be Prime Minister, campaigned for a Labour victory in July 2024.And then when it all went horribly wrong, and Labour went after the pensioners and the farmers, and when they destroyed economic growth, when they brought back unemployment and inflation, suddenly carols out, I've encouraged all of you to vote Labour, floods of tears.

He was a broken woman.

Even her bum shrank slightly, that's how upset she was.And by the way, I'm going to talk about her bum because she was Rear of the Year in 1988.So she's weaponised her backside in the past.I'll do it now.

I'm really sorry for encouraging all of you to vote for him.I'm Carol Vorderman from Crown Down and my numbers don't...And now, apparently, Andy Burnham is the answer.

Do me a favour, Carol.Go back to Countdown, because your career is on a countdown to the end.I mean, seriously, I'm actually struggling on this one, Emma, I really am, because...I'm struggling to hold it together.Well, she's like...There were so many celebrities that wanted a Labour government, including, by the way, a good friend of mine, Tom Kerridge.

Are you familiar with him?

Yes.

Famous TV chef, lovely man. a real gent.And he's like, do you know something?It's time for change.This isn't working.Vote Labour.Minutes after that election victory, we had

the national insurance tax raid.We had hospitality being clobbered.Red tape.Minimum wage.Anyway, Carriage has got buyers' regret.Sasha Lord, the brilliant northern hospitality guru, furious with this Labour government, even though he backed them originally.

They all regret their recommendation.And now Carroll says the old Andy Burnham's the answer.I mean, sure.

Well, you know, I wonder if it's because they've got something of a proper job.You know, they're connected to an industry.And the hospitality industry and business, nothing is going to make you become a conservative.And I mean small c conservative, economically conservative, not wanting to be, you know, taxed to death.Nothing is going to make you go that way more than what this government is doing to those people in this country that create wealth.And those people who are just trying to get by are just trying to run their businesses get on in their industries.

What is Carol Vorderman?I mean, I also wish she'd just stuck to numbers, but she's become a kind of activist.I think it was Carol Vorderman as well who, did she ask Robert Kenyon, the reform candidate, to apologise for the comments that he'd previously made about women?Yeah.I think she did.She's become an activist.

And unlike those people that you mentioned, you know, she doesn't She hasn't had the common sense to have buyer's remorse.She's leaning into it even further.I mean, again, as I say, I think there are a lot of people who have voted for Andy Burnham because they want to just... protest against Keir Starmer, but in the same way as many people voted for Labour because they were angry at the Conservatives, all we're doing is pushing the government further and further to the left and actually entrenching the problems that have led us here in the first place.So for someone like Carol Vorderman, I mean, you joked saying, you know, our border's far right.I think Carol Vorderman and her ilk probably do thinkthat having borders and not just letting in anybody who wants to come here is a far right position.

She probably does think that.There are people on the left who do.

Yes, because that's the extent to which they've lost the plot.And what bothers me about the likes of Carol Vorderman, she's entitled to her view, of course, but I consider her influence to be dangerous.And the reason I say that is because she has a big platform and she propounds these very fashionable, luxury beliefs that make her look like a good person, which are very virtuous, which are very harmful to the people of the United Kingdom.Policies the consequences of which she is insulated from because she's a multi -millionaire that doesn't live next door to an HMO or a migrant hotel.

I was recently walking through a very affluent part of North London, and in the windows of all of the houses were various sort of political posters, the old Black Lives Matter posters, all of those causes.And as you say, they are luxury beliefs.They are beliefs that can be held by particularly open borders.can be held by people who live in their nice gated communities and their nice houses separated from everyone else.These aren't people who are going to be living in council accommodation next to a migrant who's no longer being housed in a hotel or on an army base, which is what this government want to do.They're not bearing the brunt of the consequences of this.

They're certainly not bearing the brunt of the consequences of this economically.They are completely insulated from the ways that this is affecting the British public.to think that they're virtuous, but actually they're not having any empathy with the British people.Instead they're actually being quite paternalistic.They think that they know what's right, and they're not willing to listen to the lived experiences of those who are bearing the brunt of it.

Most definitely, and the likes of Carol Vorderman and Gary Lineker and Gary Neville and all of the other millionaire Garys, they don't experience, for example, what the people of Crobra are going through at the moment, which is a sleepy East Sussex town not far from the seaside and there is a cadet center there which is a wonderful municipal resource in which young people boys and girls teenagers youngsters they go and do their sort of recreational military and do their exercises wonderful thing.And especially in the fact that kids and young people spend so much time glued to their smartphone or gaming, it's wonderful that they have that resource.Well, that resource in Crobra has been taken away from them.It's been shut down and appropriated for the use of and the accommodation of 500 undocumented men.And it's a small town, and life has changed overnight for those people.So, for example, the women of that town, they don't stagger home on their own, drunk from the pub at half ten in the evening on their own, because there is a property with 500 men who are, by the way, free to wander around.

round the corner.They are driving their kids to school now, whereas they used to cycle or walk, and there is terrible traffic as a result of that.Life has changed overnight for these people.The Garys, the millionaire Garys and Carol Vorderman don't get that, they don't see that, they don't experience that.

I mean, that is the case up and down the country.And if there were, you know, Channel 4 does these sorts of documentaries where they send, I think there was one where they sent people like Bushra Sheikh off to, you know, do the migrant route and that kind of thing.You know, wouldn't it be great to send someone like Carol Vorderman and the Garys to go and stay in one of these places?to go and experience what it's like, as they did in those shows where, you know, people slept rough for a night.Let them go, let them experience what it's like, let Carol Vorderman attempt to walk at night in an area where you have all of these undocumented men roaming around and see what happens.

These people disgust me, they really do.The millionaire Garys, the Carol Vordermans, the woke virtue signallers, They are obscene.And the reason why is because they just care about their ego, the narcissism, aren't I a lovely person, their public profile.And the policies that they are supporting are genuinely harming the country and the people of this country and folk listening to and watching this show.And it makes me really, really angry.It's the same with the economy.

The policies like the National insurance tax rate is causing businesses to shut down is causing them to not recruit people anymore the red tape the minimum wage This is meaning that we now have the largest the highest youth unemployment in the whole of Europe So these policies are hurting people.They're damaging policies and the the sort of progressive left -wing elites are cheerleading the whole thing.

Yeah, it's a perfect storm, and the people who are cheerleading it are betraying the country, and they're betraying the people of this country, particularly those who are cheering for open borders, who don't really want to deal with the illegal boats who are coming across the Channel, who have no sympathy for the people who are having to deal with that.You know, these things come with a cost.Mass migration is costing us.I mean, Even when you look at particularly isolated numbers, you know, you look at the number of, you know, how, how much is this costing us to house these people?How much is it costing us to feed them?And, you know, all of these different numbers, they, they all add up.

Mass migration, and also illegalmigration is costing this country an absolute fortune.The British taxpayer is being bled dry and companies are getting to the point where they can't actually employ young people because the government is continuously taxing us in order to foot the bill that we are paying to house and feed and support people who have no right to be here.

Some of whom, potentially a small percentage, but some of whom are dangerous.

Well, people who, when I say who have no right to be here, I don't even necessarily mean asylum seekers.I mean, the whole world does not have a right to come to the United Kingdom.And if you come here, even as a legal migrant, and continue to live off of the state, and receive benefits as soon as you arrive, you know, this is a person that shouldn't be in the country.We should only be welcoming in people who, you know, and a small number of people who are actively contributing to this country, who are bringing something to the table, who are not a net drain.But that's not the situation.

No.And for me, the millionaire Garys and Carol Vorderman, they support policies which hurts the poorest most.So they all support net zero, which is really bad news for poor people, because it increases the cost of energy, which is felt most keenly by poor people, including pensioners.They support red tape, minimum wage, the National Insurance Tax Raid, which causes businesses to lay people off.And that's people at the bottom end of the economic ladder.The minimum wage hike.

That affects young people at the bottom of the ladder who can't even get a job now in their local pub pulling pints because the pubs are struggling.But what bothers me briefly, Emma, is that somehow a perception has been allowed to develop that the millionaire Gary's and Carol'sVorderman are the good people, right?And we're the bad people, the people that want a firm border, law and order on the streets, that want national income so you can give it to poor people.We're bad and they're good.Make it make sense.

I think there was a time where that was the case, but I think that that time is starting to wane away.There was a period where, you know, people of that ideological persuasion had sort of seized the means of cultural production.And so they could project this image that they are virtuous and so on.But I actually think that now we have so much independent media as well that people are able to assert their voice more clearly.And we actually, you mentioned Net Zero, we saw this in Aberdeen with the Conservatives winning from the SNP.You know, that was the vote of industry.

It's not just about the fact that energy costs increasing affect poor people the most.It's also that it affects the sorts of companies that would employ blue -collar workers, industries including oil and gas, but also, you know, factories.Any company that uses a large amount of energy, your white van man, your plumber, the people who are having to, you know, use petrol in order to do their job.

Well, it's a fascinating conversation.What do you think?0344 499 1000.Now, Andy Burnham, has won the Makerfield by -election.Is this the beginning of the end for Reform UK?That's next.