Starmer says Reform pursuing politics of ‘toxic division’ after Matt Goodwin unveiled as byelection candidate

Keir Starmer has accused the Reform UK candidate in the Greater Manchester byelection of pursuing the politics of “toxic division” after he refused to disown his claim that UK-born people from minority ethnic backgrounds are not necessarily British.The prime minister suggested that Matthew Goodwin, a hard-right activist, would try to “tear people apart” in Gorton and Denton, and that voters wanting to stop Nigel Farage’s party should coalesce around the Labour candidate.Senior Labour figures have warned that the party needs to rapidly present itself as the “stop Reform” vote, acknowledging that in the recent Caerphilly byelection, which was won by Plaid Cymru, they were too late in becoming the beneficiary of tactical voting.The Greens, who came third in the Gorton and Denton seat at the general election, are set to stage an all-out fight to win the upcoming race, with officials in the party arguing they have a real chance of victory after Andy Burnham was barred from applying to be the Labour candidate.But speaking to reporters on his way to China, Starmer said: “There’s only one party to stop Reform and that’s the Labour Party. We can already see what the bybelection is going to be about, which is Labour values which are about delivering on the cost of living with a strong record in that constituency of what we’ve already done versus Reform.”He added: “You can see from their candidate what politics they’re going to bring to that constituency: the politics of division, of toxic division, of tearing people apart. That’s not what that constituency is about, it’s not what Manchester is about, so this is a straight fight between Labour and Reform.”Goodwin, who was presented on Tuesday as the party’s candidate in the demographically diverse seat in south-east Manchester, has been criticised for claiming recently that people from black, Asian or other immigrant backgrounds were not always British.Starmer confirmed that he had spoken to Burnham on Monday after an acrimonious weekend when the prime minister and his allies blocked the Greater Manchester mayor from running, citing the cost of a subsequent mayoral byelection, but in reality seeking to avoid a putative leadership challenge.He denied that Burnham was warned in advance that he wouldn’t be accepted as the candidate for Gorton, if he decided to run. “No, he wasn’t,” the prime minister added.“I know who was talking to Andy on Saturday, and that wasn’t said. That’s Andy’s position as well. I actually spoke to Andy yesterday, and he’s been in touch with him again today,” he added.Asked whether he would welcome Burnham back to parliament once his mayoral term ended in May 2028, he said the mayor was doing an “first-class job” in Manchester but added any return was “a matter for Andy”.