Yvette Cooper Campaign Slams Andy Burnham's 'Old-Style Bulling From The Boys'
Cooper's Camp Slams 'Old-Style Bullying From The Boys'
Graeme Demianyk and Aubrey Allegretti— The Huffington Post UK
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Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper during a Labour Leadership and Deputy Leadership Hustings at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham.
Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Yvette Cooper's campaign team have hit out at rival Labour leadership candidate Andy Burnham, accusing his camp of “old-style bullying from the boys” amid a bitter row between the two camps.
Both teams traded fresh new blows this week, in a bid to position themselves as most naturally placed to take on competition frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn.
Burnham's campaign chief first called on Cooper's team to stop talking up the possibility of her becoming leader, arguing that “the Yvette campaign remains in complete denial as to the fact that they cannot possibly win”.
But Cooper's staff retorted with a fiery rebuttal, accusing their rivals of “old-style bullying from the boys” and adding it was he who “needs to step back and leave it to Yvette”.
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Jeremy Corbyn is the current frontrunner to succeed Ed Miliband
The standoff emerged as shadow health secretary Burnham warned against “lectures” from party grandees attempting to career Corbyn's chances, cautioning of “real trouble” brewing between the left and the right of the party.
Burnham criticised “circling the wagons against Jeremy’s campaign” as party stalwarts Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Alan Johnson and David Miliband all joined to raise the alarm over the prospect of a Corbyn victory.
The Leigh MP also told Radio 4’s Today programme said it was “quite strange” Yvette Cooper’s team had urged Burnham to quit the race, paving the way for her to be the “Anyone But Corbyn” candidate.
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Burnham's team claim most polls put them in second place
The row has prompted claims of bullying language coming from Burnham's campaign, underlining the acrimony starting to engulf the campaign.
Burnham, who appears to have softened his line towards Corbyn to appeal to his supporters, said: “Lectures from people at the top of the party as to how the membership should vote in this race, I don’t think go down particularly well. People may be over-stating their criticisms.
"Some of the language needs to be more considered than it is. If you fuel this negativity you just pull these two sides apart.
“Last time Labour was more interested in fighting itself in the early 1980s it left the pitch clear for Margaret Thatcher to bulldoze the her way through Labour communities. We have the heirs to Thatcher now.
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Celebrities backing and attacking Jeremy Corbyn
ATTACK: Robert Webb(01 of10)
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The Peep Show actor said: "He's a nice guy, totally marooned in 1980s politics. And I remember the 1980s very well. The Bennites f****d Labour. And then we had 17 years of Tories. Lots of people suffered while the Left kept their splendid principles. F**k that. Come on, guys." (credit:Zak Hussein/PA Archive)
BACK: Charlotte Church(02 of10)
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The singer said: "He is one of the only politicians of note that seems to truly recognise the dire inequality that exists in this country today and actually have a problem with it. There is something inherently virtuous about him, and that is a quality that can rally the support of a lot of people, and most importantly, a lot of young people." (credit:Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Wire)
ATTACK: Tony Blair(03 of10)
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The former Prime Minister said: "If Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader it won't be a defeat like 1983 or 2015 at the next election. It will mean rout, possibly annihilation. It doesn't matter whether you're on the left, right or centre of the party, whether you used to support me or hate me. But please understand the danger we are in. The party is walking eyes shut, arms outstretched over the cliff's edge to the jagged rocks below." (credit:JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images)
BACK: Maxine Peake (04 of10)
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The actor said: "For me Jeremy Corbyn is our only beacon of hope to get the Labour Party back on track, get the electorate back in touch with politics and save this country from the constant mindless bullying of the vulnerable and poor. Aspirational? Surely we should all aspire that everyone living in this country has the right to a decent quality of life." (credit:Matt Crossick/Matt Crossick)
BACK: Brian Eno(05 of10)
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The musician said: "Corbyn has a story that people want to hear. It’s positive – idealistic even – but it isn’t outlandish, although the neoliberals would like you to think it is." (credit:Michael Crabtree/PA Archive)
ATTACK: Alan Johnson(06 of10)
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The Labour grandee said: “In my view only Yvette Cooper can unite the party to win again. Those members who can’t give her their first preference should give her their second. After over a century of male leaders we have an election where the most qualified candidate to lead our party back to government happens to be a woman. Let’s end the madness and elect her.” (credit:Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)
BACK: Mary Beard(07 of10)
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The scholar said: "If I were a member of the Labour Party, I would vote for Corbyn. He actually seems to have some ideological commitment, which could get the Labour Party to think about what it actually stands for." (credit:John Stillwell/PA Archive)
BACK: Ken Loach(08 of10)
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The film director said: ""Jeremy Corbyn, true to the best traditions of Labour, has a realistic plan to build new homes. Councils should have the power to plan and build good houses, environmentally sound, with proper infrastructure. Labour had the best Housing Minister ever in Nye Bevan. It's time for another with the same vision." (credit:Thibault Camus/AP)
ATTACK: Polly Toynbee(09 of10)
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The Guardian journalist said: "Labour people, motivated by the plight of the needy in a grossly unjust society, shouldn’t gamble the future of the weak on such a slender chance. Every Tory government impoverishes the poor and enriches the wealthy. Every Labour government makes landmark social progress. Winning next time matters desperately. A Cooper leadership offers an infinitely better hope of success." (credit:Ben Birchall/PA Archive)
BACK: Owen Jones(10 of10)
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The Guardian journalist said: "He is the very antithesis of the negative caricature of an MP: he’s defined by his principles and beliefs, uninterested in personal self-advancement, and determined to use his platform to further the interests of people and causes that are otherwise ignored." (credit:Rob Stothard via Getty Images)
“Factionalism doesn’t just exist on the left. If you then get the right of the party behaving in that way that’s when you get real trouble. That’s the risk we have at the moment. Some in the party circling the wagons against Jeremy’s campaign. We don’t want to see that.”
Of the Cooper team’s calls to quit, he said: “I find this call quite disappointing but also quite strange. All the other leadership camps agree, and they’ve gone on the record to say this, I’m in second place.
“If we let this bad blood, negativity to take over, we will be harder to unite coming out of this contest. I want to win this contest and unite this party.”
But a Cooper aide hit back at Burnham's camp's briefings smacked of "everyday sexism", referencing the popular hashtag used to highlight instances of alleged gender prejudice.
Amy Richards posted the message to Twitter, saying: "Umm... Hints of #everydaysexism. Presume Andy Burnham will want to distance himself from this..."
Speaking on Tuesday to Radio 4's Today programme, Burnham sought to downplay the two camps' feud, saying he had been complimentary of all leadership rivals in a speech the previous day.
He then proceeded to commented that he "didn't know if Jeremy wants to be Prime Minister", prompting cries of disbelief from presenter Justin Webb.