Today11:13 BSTMP denies he decided to give up seat for Burnham a year agoJosh Simons MP has denied reports he decided to give his seat up for Andy Burnham a year ago.He told the BBC: “That’s not quite what the report says. It says I had a pint with Andy Burnham and we talked about politics, which is absolutely true.”Mr Simons said he made the decision “two days ago”, after discussing it with his wife.He said: “It’s been incredibly fast for me… It wasn’t just me, it was my wife. We did this as a family, because it’s about the sacrifices on behalf of the family.“For me, it wasn’t about… people always ask (about) cutting deals, are you going to run for mayor, are you going to be in the Lords? No, no, no.“It was about, ‘what does Andy think that he’s going to do to the Labour Party and to the country if he wins this by-election?’, and that’s what matters.”Simons denied he planned to give up his seat one year in advance(Image: Roger Harris Photography)Today10:41 BSTDo not fight to remain leader in event of contest - PhillipsJess Phillips said the Prime Minister should not fight to remain Labour leader if there is a contest.The former minister told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg she believes there should be a leadership race, but when asked if Sir Keir Starmer should stand, she simply said: “In my opinion, no.”Jess Phillips resigned from government(Image: PA)Today10:32 BSTStreeting showed 'bravery and boldness' in government, says PhillipsJess Phillips said former health secretary and potential Labour leadership contender Wes Streeting showed “bravery and boldness” in government.She told the BBC: “He once said to me that the process of me writing the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy felt a little bit like me hanging him upside down by his ankles and shaking out his pockets, but the reality is, he stepped up and he got the right people to do the right thing.“So there’s one example of where I found him very forthcoming.“Now, the Prime Minister does definitely care about violence against women and girls, don’t get me wrong, but what I see from Wes is bravery and boldness.”Today10:21 BSTLocal elections have 'no bearing on general elections,' says Tory leader Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told the BBC "what happens at local elections has no bearing on what happens at general elections."Her comments came after Presenter Laura Kuenssberg pressed the Tory leader on whether her party losing seats was an indication it was in trouble.Kuenssberg responded that it "sounds like you are dismissing the votes of millions of people last week.""What I'm doing is challenging your analysis," said Badenoch.Kemi Badenoch was challenged on the BBCToday10:11 BSTEx-safeguarding minister explains why she stepped down Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, who stepped down on Tuesday, described Sir Keir Starmer’s approach to holding tech companies accountable for children’s online safety as “timid”.She told the BBC: “Timid is the best way that I can describe (his approach). I don’t think people understand exactly what I am talking about, necessarily, in my resignation letter, what I am talking about is stopping 91 per cent of child sexual abuse online.“The ability for children to take the naked images of themselves and do live streaming of their own sexual abuses is something that I had to try and stop.”Ms Phillips said the process of trying to push for legislation to force tech companies to crack down on child sexual abuse images was “frustrating”.She added: “That level of timidity on something that could stop child abuse, for example… I don’t think that the Prime Minister, for one second, doesn’t want to stop that child abuse, of course he does.“But the willingness to have an argument on this in this instance with tech companies just wasn’t there.”Today10:02 BSTStreeting's EU focus 'a bit odd' - NandyLisa Nandy described West Streeting's call for the UK to rejoin the European Union as "a bit odd."She said Streeting has "got a strong view" that the UK should not have left the EU, adding it was one "I agree with."But she told the BBC she does "really understand why the sudden focus on Europe."Lisa Nandy was quizzed by the BBC(Image: Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)Today09:57 BSTNandy rules out standing as Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy has ruled out standing in any Labour leadership contest.Asked if she would rule out standing in a future contest by the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, the Culture Secretary, who ran in the last Labour leadership election, said: “Yeah, I would. I said at the time that never again. I mean, I can’t say it’s an enormously enjoyable experience.”The senior Labour figure added: “I honestly think that Keir, I mean he won that contest fair and square in 2019, he won the election. We owe it to him to pull together as a team.“But I make no apology for saying, and he agrees, that Andy Burnham and other people from other parts of the country are really important voices of all of that.“I think now is the time to demonstrate to the country that we can reflect the whole country, that we can be bigger, more urgent, more fundamental, bolder in the change that we offer, and that we are the answer to the problems in people’s lives.”Today09:53 BSTMakerfield by-election will be 'tough fight' for Burnham, admits NandyLisa Nandy admitted Andy Burnham faces a "tough fight" in his race to be named as Makerfield MP.When asked about whether Burnham running in Makerfield was a huge gamble, Nandy said it was a "tough fight, no question about it."But she added Burnham was running in an area he has called home "in order to show we can be different and can create that change."Nandy admitted Burnham faced a "tough fight"Today09:43 BSTStepping down as MP for Burnham in Labour's 'best interests' Josh Simons MP said he believes stepping down to make way for Andy Burnham is in the “best interests” of his party, community and country.He told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “I think doing things for your community and your country that are very much not in your own personal reasons is the kind of thing we should do in politics sometimes.“This has been a really tough decision for me and my family. I have very young kids, I’ve got a three-week-old baby.“This was not an easy thing to do, and I wouldn’t have done it unless I really, really believed, at the end of the day, that this was in the best interests of the Labour Party, my community, and most importantly, the country.”Today09:38 BSTLabour should 'come together' and back Burnham, says Makerfield MPLabour MP Josh Simons, who announced on Thursday that he would give up his seat to make way for Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to return to Parliament, said the party should “come together” to back him.He told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “If Andy wins the by-election, my view is that the different bits of the party should come together behind Andy.”Asked if that would mean “the end of Keir Starmer”, Mr Simons responded: “By implication, yeah.”Andy Burnham is considered a Labour leadership frontrunner(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)Today09:38 BSTBurnham 'squarely focused' on issues such as cost of living, says NandyNandy told Sky News this morning: “If rejoining the EU is the answer, then essentially what we’re saying to people is ‘life was fine in 2015, we just need to go back there’.“I know Wes is coming up to campaign in the by-election quite soon. He will hear loud and clear from people in places like Wigan, Ashton, Winstanley, across Makerfield, that that is absolutely not the case. And the answer has to be bigger.”Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is meanwhile “squarely focused” on issues such as the cost of living and transport, Ms Nandy said, adding this is “exactly where we need to be”.Today09:38 BSTLisa Nandy rebukes Wes Streeting over revisiting Brexit debateRevisiting the Brexit debate is like saying “life was fine in 2015, we just need to go back there”, Lisa Nandy said in a rebuke of her Labour colleague Wes Streeting.The Culture Secretary told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I like and respect Wes a lot, and I listened carefully to what he had to say yesterday, I think you know I have a different perspective on this, and we do as a Government.“The Government that he was part of until recently has been trying to take a far more pragmatic approach to bringing us closer to Europe and repairing some of the damage that was done from a poor Brexit deal to people’s living standards in parts of the country like mine, rather than reopening the Brexit wars and going round back again around that track.”Nandy rebuked Streeting's EU views(Image: Henry NICHOLLS / AFP via Getty Images)‌