Andy Burnham rules out another Better Together pact

LABOUR leadership frontrunner Andy Burnham has said the party would never again make the “mistake” of working with the Tories in a campaign like the cross party Better Together group in last year’s independence referendum.

Andy Burnham. Picture: PA

The five declared candidates to lead UK Labour Mr Burnham, Jeremy Corbyn, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall and Mary Creagh, faced questions at the annual conference of the GMB union in Dublin today.

Asked by Scottish delegate Duncan Walker how Labour could win back votes in Scotland, all candidates agreed the party needed to re-connect with voters.

Mr Burnham was applauded when he said Labour made a mistake by sharing platforms with the Tories during the referendum campaign, when Better Together was led by former Chancellor Alistair Darling but received active support from David Cameron’s party.

“In Scotland we lined up alongside the Tories. Under my leadership Labour will never make that mistake again”, Mr Burnham told the Labour affiliated GMB union.

Inverness-born Ms Cooper, the shadow home secretary said Labour had to be a party for the whole country, adding: “We have to rebuild - but it will take us time.”