Deputy PM says the public will not forgive weeks of internal debate on the EU and Labour leadership, warning it will play into Reform’s handsLIVE Updated 12m agoMon 18 May 2026 11.04 CESTFirst published on Mon 18 May 2026 10.33 CESTKey events15m agoLammy warns Labour it will 'usher in Farage' unless it abandons infighting43m agoLammy dismisses Streeting’s call for UK to rejoin EU as ‘sixth form’ debating positionWes Streeting and David Lammy pictured together in 2025 Photograph: Ben Whitley/PAWes Streeting and David Lammy pictured together in 2025 Photograph: Ben Whitley/PAShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureFrom 43m agoLammy dismisses Streeting’s call for UK to rejoin EU as ‘sixth form’ debating positionGood morning. Harold Wilson was right; a week is a long time etc etc. Seven days ago, the biggest threat to Keir Starmer was a half-baked challenge from Catherine West. A week on, with Andy Burnham on a viable path back to Westminster within the next few weeks, it now seems more likely than not that Burnham will be prime minister by the autumn, perhaps earlier, and that Keir Starmer will be out.We are likely to hear from Starmer himself this morning. In the meantime, David Lammy, the deputy PM, has been doing a broadcast round. As Peter Walker reports, Lammy has insisted that Starmer is not about to set out a timetable for his departure.This is the public position. But, in private, Starmer’s position seems to be a bit more nuanced; in his story from yesterday, Kiran Stacey quoted a friend of Starmer’s as saying: “[Starmer’s] position is not ‘I will stand, come what may’. It depends on what happens, but at the same time it’s about not rushing to positions that might suit particular other factions in the Labour party.”Burnham is not the only candidate to be next Labour leader. Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, wants the job too and at the weekend he declared that he wanted to see the UK rejoin the EU.Burnham’s allies interpreted this as a hostile act because it puts Burnham under pressure to either endorse the idea, which won’t be popular in Makerfield, the leave-voting constituency where he wants to fight the byelection, or to distance himself from it (despite the fact that he is on the record as also saying the UK should rejoin eventually), which won’t be popular with Labour’s pro-EU membership.In his interview on the Today programme, Lammy dismissed this a “sixth form debate”. Asked about Europe, he said that Labour was elected on a manifesto that ruled out joining the single market or the customs union. Asked what should be in the next manifesto, he said he did not want to discuss something that might be three years away. He also said Labour should be focusing on delivery, not on internal arguments.