{"text":[[{"start":7.8,"text":"Andy Burnham has vowed to seek to replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister should he win a parliamentary by-election in Makerfield and return to Westminster. "}],[{"start":18,"text":"Speaking on the BBC’s Question Time programme on Thursday evening, the Greater Manchester mayor said that former health secretary Wes Streeting appeared “to have launched” a Labour leadership contest already."}],[{"start":30.65,"text":"“So if that is running, I would seek to join it,” Burnham said, adding he would need the support of Labour MPs to participate in a leadership race."}],[{"start":40.2,"text":"The remarks are Burnham’s first explicit statement that if he wins the June 18 by-election, which was triggered to give him a route back to Westminster, he will challenge Starmer. Streeting said last month he would join any Labour leadership contest."}],[{"start":54.650000000000006,"text":"Under Labour rules, anyone wanting to challenge Starmer for the leadership must be an MP. They must also have the support of 81 MPs. "}],[{"start":63.150000000000006,"text":"Starmer has defied calls by some Labour MPs to step down after the party’s disastrous performance in devolved and local elections last month."}],[{"start":72.4,"text":"A Number 10 spokesperson said after Burnham’s comments that Labour’s process for challenging its leader “had not been triggered”."}],[{"start":81.25,"text":"“The prime minister will not walk away from the mandate he was given just two years ago to build a stronger, fairer Britain,” they added. "}],[{"start":89.5,"text":"Burnham’s run as the Labour candidate in Makerfield is being fiercely contested by Reform UK, with early polling showing a tight race between the two parties. "}],[{"start":100,"text":"But a poll by Survation, published on Thursday night, gave Burnham a clear lead, pulling 10 percentage points ahead of Reform’s candidate, Robert Kenyon."}],[{"start":110.3,"text":"Burnham has come under pressure, including on the Question Time broadcast from Makerfield, to be honest about his intentions should he return to Westminster. "}],[{"start":119.35,"text":"He told the audience: “If I get your support, I would seek to represent you at the highest possible level and give this constituency maximum power and influence.”"}],[{"start":130.35,"text":"Michael Winstanley, the Conservative candidate for Makerfield, said Burnham, who would need to stand down as mayor if he wins the by-election, had not long ago called his current role “the best job in the world”."}],[{"start":142.35,"text":"Winstanley claimed Burnham had “foisted” the by-election on the area’s voters. "}],[{"start":147.54999999999998,"text":"Reform was accused of whipping up community and racial tensions after Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for killing student Henry Nowak in Southampton with a knife he said he carried as part of his faith. "}],[{"start":162.2,"text":"Reform leader Nigel Farage on Tuesday called for Britons to respond with “pure cold rage” to the murder, and later that day in Southampton protesters were involved in violent clashes with police. Nowak’s family had urged politicians not to use his death to stoke division."}],[{"start":178.85,"text":"Kenyon repeated Reform’s claim on Question Time that Britain has a “two-tier” policing system but said that “violence is not the answer”. "}],[{"start":187.6,"text":"He called for a ban on all knives, including those carried for religious purposes."}],[{"start":193.29999999999998,"text":"Burnham said Farage would have been “well aware” that his words about Nowak’s murder could have consequences. "}],[{"start":199.29999999999998,"text":"“Those consequences were seen on the streets of Southampton, and the ringleaders of that violence used exactly the same words as the leader of the Reform party when they were orchestrating that violence,” he added. "}],[{"start":211.14999999999998,"text":"Burnham said there was “a case” to consider a ban on carrying knives for religious reasons."}],[{"start":223.74999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780637136_2640.mp3"}