Reform MP joins calls for a general election ahead of Andy Burnham 'coronation' - 'Britons don't need him!'

Andrew Rosindell has declared that Britons "need a general election, not Andy Burnham" in a scathing takedown of the new Makerfield MP.

Speaking to GB News, the Reform UK MP hit out at the Downing Street hopeful and stressed it will be the "same failed Labour Party" if he becomes Prime Minister.

Mr Burnham is said to be planning to "scale back plans" to toughen up settlement rules for migrants already living in the United Kingdom.

According to Labour allies, the Makerfield MP could "water down" Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's plan to double indefinite leave to remain assessments to ten years.

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However, a source close to Mr Burnham told The i Paper the claim is "speculation" and he is "yet to make a decision".

Reacting to the reports, Mr Rosindell told GB News the country is in a "terrible state" under the current Labour Government.

He said: "The country is in a terrible state, and it's the Labour Party in Government and whoever's Prime Minister, Andy Burnham or someone else, it's the same failed Labour Party which has dragged this country down to the depths we're in today.

"We don't need Andy Burnham, we need a general election. We need a change of Government, and we need a party in power that believes in this country."

The Reform MP stressed that immigration is the "most important issue on the doorstep" among Britons, and it "affects everything" across the country.

He told GB News: "Immigration is by far the most important issue on the doorstep, and it affects everything. If you have mass immigration that nobody voted for into our country, it affects the health service, it affects schools, housing.

"It affects the environment and it's changing the culture of our country that nobody ever voted for.

Mr Rosindell warned: "If Andy Burnham is going to water down what Keir Starmer's Government have already been doing, that's a very, very bad sign.

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"And I think that it won't be long before people in this country see through what the Labour Party are doing and want to see a change of Government completely."

Challenging Mr Rosindell, GB News Senior Political Commentator Nigel Nelson recalled the several Tory defections to Reform UK, and how they, including Mr Rosindell, "rejected the manifesto he was elected on".

The Reform MP disagreed, responding: "Andy Burnham wasn't a candidate at the last general election.

"So other Prime Ministers that have come in, Theresa May, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, they were elected under the manifesto as MPs.

"Andy Burnham wasn't at the last election. He's come in as a Mayor of Manchester, being parachuted into Westminster and then supposedly into No10. The whole thing is very deeply questionable."

Nigel hit back: "He was a Labour Manchester Mayor, and he's coming in because we don't have a presidential system in this country.

"He's come in to lead the party that won the last election and standing on that manifesto."

Mr Rosindell then concluded: "Constitutionally it's correct, but in terms of what the British people want, they want a general election. They want a change of Government completely."

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