Burnham accuses Blair of ignoring inequality as he hits back at ex-PM

Andy Burnham has accused former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair of failing to understand "what's going on" in people's lives and underestimating the impact of inequality.

Sir Tony used a 5,600 word essay to argue the Labour government had "no coherent plan" for the country and had introduced policies that had held back business.

He urged Labour not to move to the left and to embrace the "radical centre" instead.

But Burnham, who is widely expected to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership if he wins a by-election later this month, told the Observer Sir Tony "doesn't mention inequality once" in his critique of where the Labour government has gone wrong.

"If you don't get how that's driving politics now, if you are not rooting your analysis in the fact that people are unable to live and that things that were taken for granted are no longer affordable, then you are not understanding what's going on," said the mayor of Greater Manchester.

Burnham is seeking to become an MP again on 18 June in the Makerfield by-election, on the outskirts of Wigan, in what is expected to be a closely-fought contest with Reform UK's Robert Kenyon.

Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting has also said he will stand if there is a leadership contest - but Sir Keir has said he will not walk away from the top job.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Tony criticised Burnham for claiming Britain has been "on the wrong path for 40 years" - a period that includes Sir Tony's 10 years in power, from 1997 to 2007.

"I hope Andy wins Makerfield, I think he's a great guy, I want to see him in Parliament," said Sir Tony.

"But you know, when he does this thing about 40 years of wasted… I mean, OK, and what, nothing good happened in that period of Thatcher with the business community, or New Labour?

"I don't think he really means that."

Burnham, who was a junior minister under Sir Tony before being promoted to the cabinet by Gordon Brown, hit back in his Observer interview, saying: "The last 40 years has given us wide inequality - that's what's responsible for the abandonment of the centre.

"People don't think the centre has delivered for them in terms of their lives, therefore they've gone further to the extremes."

Sir Tony claims in his essay that Labour has suffered from a "perennial delusion – that when we lose seats to the right the country is really signalling it wants Labour to move left".