Suspended MP Rachael Maskell tells LBC she backs Burnham to be PM ahead of Labour party conference
The MP for York Central has backed the Manchester mayor to become Prime Minister
Suspended Labour rebel Rachael Maskell has backed Andy Burnham to become Prime Minister on the eve of the party conference in Liverpool.
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The MP for York Central, who sits as an independent after Labour suspended her, told LBC's Matt Frei that she would back the Mayor of Greater Manchester if he made a bid to become Labour leader again.
In recent weeks, speculation over Mr Burnham attempting to return to Westminster in order to challenge Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership has intensified.
Read More: Starmer hits back at Andy Burnham's 'personal ambitions' to be party leader
Ms Maskell, who led a backbench rebellion over controversial welfare reforms, told LBC: "One day I do believe that Andy Burnham would make a fantastic Prime Minister of our country.
"I supported him in 2015 for that role, and I certainly would again... He's done incredible work in Manchester and I think what I read from his interview is that he's a proud Mancunian and he's got that legacy. He wants the rest of the country to share that benefit."
Lavishing praise on Burnham's record as Mayor of Greater Manchester, Ms Maskell added: [Manchester has] the strongest economy in the country, seeing that public transport system joined up, building the housing that's needed, addressing issues like homelessness. But he wants to do more.
"Some of that frustration comes back to the Westminster government not having a government, prioritising other things.
"I think he's saying, let's. Let's extend the Mancunian way across the rest of the country, and if it's working, let's do that."
Speaking after some suspended Labour politicians regained the whip last week, Ms Maskell confirmed that she was still sitting as an independent.
She said: "I'm absolutely delighted that John McDonnell and Apsana Begum are back in the Labour Party. Politicians that carry true Labour values and fight for their constituents. So it's a really good sign.
"And obviously I and the other four colleagues who have been suspended, we are very hopeful that our whip will quickly be resumed because we're all Labour to the core, we carry those values."
When asked by Matt about Sir Keir Starmer's controversial plan to introduce mandatory ID cards in Britain, the Yorkshire-based MP said she was skeptical about the plan.
She quipped: "I have to say, I've never once in 10 years of being an MP heard ID cards come up on the doorstep. And I've got a kind of post industrial city constituency, so I'm not quite sure where that's come from.
"Whether or not you're producing paper documentation or electronic documentation, the fact is that people are working without the right documentation, so I can't see how that will change the score."