Andy Burnham has just ruled out a general election next May. As I wrote in my cover story this week, there are a lot of people at the top of Labour thinking about going to the country but – as I and most of my sources concluded – the polling numbers are just not there and the only meaningful policy freedom the PM would gain would be the ability to put up personal taxation. ‘He’ll raise your taxes to pay for migrants and benefit claimants’ looks like the easiest ‘No’ campaign slogan since ‘Take Back Control’.

The Prime Minister argued that calling a snap election would leave the country ‘arguing again amongst ourselves’

The Prime Minister argued that calling a snap election would leave the country ‘arguing again amongst ourselves’

Party conferences are never much fun for prime ministers. They have to make the speech of their life (since the last one) and are not just competing with the dullards in their cabinet, but against Blair, Kinnock, Gaitskell and Bevan, the orators........

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