‘Labour had their chance – they flopped.’ Two days in Makerfield show me the scale of Burnham’s task | John Harris

Touring this bitterly divided constituency, what strikes you most is people want something better. But what exactly? Keir Starmer teeters. The defence secretary exits, and thereby seems to confirm the prime minister’s demise. Andy Burnham scents a final, belated breakthrough, while most of the national talk is of violence, a country in crisis and malaise. And in Platt Bridge, a neighbourhood at the heart of the constituency where the fates of the Labour party, the current government and the ...

By John Harris in Makerfield