Here’s a video of Yvette Cooper, in which she says she’s “credible enough to win”, saying she has the “best chance of beating Jeremy [Corbyn]”.
That’s it for today’s reader’s edition of the live blog. Thanks for all your comments and contributions today.
Updated
Corbyn returned the favour (see 13:11pm) and said that he would welcome Andy Burnham in his team, according to Jim Pickard of the Financial Times.
Corbyn: "If we win we would involve Andy (Burnham) in our team if he was willing. From day one, whoever wins must pull the party together."
— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) August 17, 2015
Here’s a video of Andy Burnham speaking in Manchester earlier.
Andy Burnham has given a speech to supporters in Manchester. Politics Home has the full transcript.
- Burnham claimed that “only two candidates have set out radical visions for our party”.
- He also said that he “would involve Jeremy [Corbyn] in my team from the outset”.
Updated
As you may have already read by now, the latest Labour big beast to warn of the dangers of a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour is David Miliband.
He is backing Liz Kendall.
Updated
A bit of lunchtime reading, courtesy of our readers - thanks for the links and suggestions.
- Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne has said the leadership election is between Yvette Cooper and Jeremy Corbyn - and urges supporters of Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall to hand Cooper their second preferences.
- Here’s a Spectator blog post pondering the impact of a Corbyn win on the SNP in Scotland. HT for this and the above: fripouille
- Meanwhile, the Independent report that Labour staff members and Shadow Cabinet aides fear being “purged” in the event of Corbyn winning in September. HT: mavric1
As our headline says, voters have begun to receive their ballots in the Labour leadership election. Including, it turns out, some of our readers below the line, who have been discussing who they intend to vote for in our comments thread.
I know the Deputy Leadership contest has been slightly overshadowed but I'd be interested to hear peoples opinions of the candidates on offer.
I accept that Watson is the strong favourite but will be voting for Creasy as a good balance and complement to Jeremy Corbyn, the new leader. She is knowledgeable, articulate and media savvy. She will work hard and will hopefully help to keep most of the right of the party on board.
I went to see the hustings in Warrington. I thought Caroline Flint was outstanding. I've voted this morning for Flint, Creasy, Bradshaw, Eagle, Watson in that order.
Updated
Following Gordon Brown’s speech on Sunday, there have been calls from some quarters for Ed Miliband to intervene in the Labour leadership election. John McTernan, a Labour adviser in the Blair years, branded Miliband’s silence as a “disgrace” in this opinion piece for the Times (paywall) today.
The Telegraph’s Christopher Hope reports that Ed Miliband will not go back on his decision to stay silent, claiming that the former Labour leader has turned down requests from the Andy Burnham camp to speak out against Corbyn.
Ed Miliband’s most recent tweet was on 11 July, and concerned the cricket.
Updated
What kind of impact has the almost uniform press hostility towards Jeremy Corbyn having on those weighing up whether to vote for him? The reverse effect, concludes Roy Greenslade.
Andrew is not (usually) writing his usual Politics Live blog during summer recess but, as an alternative, here’s Politics Live: readers’ edition. It’s intended to be a place where you can catch up with the latest news and find links to good politics blogs and articles on the web.
Please feel free to use this as somewhere you can comment on any of the day’s political stories - just as you do during the daily blog. It would be particularly useful for readers to flag up new material in the comments - breaking news or blogposts or tweets that are worth passing on because someone is going to find them interesting.
The first ballots will be cast in the Labour leadership election today, as Labour grandees continue to warn party members and supporters against voting for Jeremy Corbyn. Gordon Brown is the latest Labour grandee to warn, albeit obliquely, against a Corbyn-led Labour, arguing that it is “not an abandonment of principles to seek power”.
Meanwhile Yvette Cooper has admitted that there have been suggestions within the party that candidates should bow out of the leadership race in order to rally round someone capable of defeating Corbyn.
Angles on this or on any of today’s breaking politics news? Share them, along with links and arguments below the line.
All today’s Guardian politics stories are here and all the politics stories filed yesterday, including some in today’s paper, are here.
Ballot papers for Labour leadership received this am and returned.
I voted Jeremy Corbyn 1 for leader with no other preferences.