Good morning. The “King of the North” will not be marching south – at least not for now.
Andy Burnham has been barred from standing as an MP in the forthcoming Gorton and Denton byelection, after a 10-strong “officers’ group” of labour’s ruling body, which includes the prime minister, voted overwhelmingly to reject his request to stand. It has left the party, once again, in turmoil.
The controversial decision staves off, at least for now, a potential leadership challenge. But the move has infuriated some Labour MPs and the party’s union backers. It was described as “petty factionalism”, a “huge mistake” and fainthearted, and has been condemned as a failure by the party leadership to embrace the country’s most popular Labour politician.
No 10 will hope the anger blows over and the decision swiftly ends this round of Labour’s chaos and, as one senior cabinet member put it, “psychodrama”. By putting out one fire, though, the party, as always, may have ignited several others.
To understand why No 10 made this move and what is next for Andy Burnham and the party, I spoke to peter Walker, the Guardian’s senior political correspondent.That’s after the headlines.
Five big stories
Table of Contents
- Five big stories
- In depth: ‘They see the threats from Reform getting bigger and bigger’
- What else we’ve been reading
- The front pages
- Girls Make Games and the Push for Inclusive Gaming
- The The guardian’s Coverage of Gender Representation
- Girls Make Games and the Push for Inclusive Gaming
- The Guardian’s Coverage of Gender Representation
- Gaming Industry Demographics and Trends
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US news | Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy militarised immigration agents in US cities may finally be reaching a reckoning as he faces widespread opposition across the US, dissenting lawmakers in his own party, and impending court rulings after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.
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UK news | Former home secretary Suella Braverman has defected to Reform UK, making her the third sitting Conservative MP to join Nigel Farage’s party in little more than a week.
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Europe | As many as 380 people may have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean last week during Cyclone Harry, as a shipwreck that killed 50 is confirmed by Maltese authorities.
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Saudi Arabia | A judge has ordered Saudi Arabia to pay more than £3m in damages to London-based dissident Ghanem al-Masarir, whose phones were targeted with Pegasus spyware.
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Ukraine | A US security agreement for Ukraine is “100% ready” to be signed,President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has saeid,after two days of talks involving representatives from Ukraine,the US and Russia.
In depth: ‘They see the threats from Reform getting bigger and bigger’
in a fateful Zoom meeting last weekend, Labour’s national executive committee scuppered Andy Burnham’s bid to return to Westminster. Though the move was seen as a deeply political one,the argument justifying it was procedural. Allowing Burnham to stand would have meant a costly mayoral byelection and political distraction, Labour’s leadership said.
So what happens now? Peter Walker tells me Burnham (above right, with Starmer) simply goes back to his two day jobs: “Being mayor of Greater Manchester and getting on Keir Starmer’s nerves.”
Burnham has long played a dual role inside labour. As Peter puts it: “Burnham always says loyal things,” but at the same time insists: “We could be doing this
in some ways, Peter says, this is simply a politician’s ego. “Ther is always, in any party, probably 20 or 30 people who think they could be doing a better job.” But for a growing number of Labour MPs, Burnham’s appeal goes beyond that. “They see the threats from Reform getting bigger and bigger,” Peter says, and they worry that “if we stay under Keir, the country may be changed forever.”
Burnham’s evolution
Burnham’s political journey has not been a straight line. He ran for the leadership in 2010,coming fourth,and again in 2015,finishing second to Jeremy Corbyn. Back then, Peter says, he was seen as “Mr Cabinet Minister”, who was loyal and would get the job done.
At that time he was broadly a centrist, but two things changed him, peter explains. The first was Hillsborough. ”There was this famous occasion where he was culture secretary when the government was holding out against a formal inquiry and he got booed,” Peter says. “He whent back to cabinet and argued, ‘We need to do something about it,'” then went on to play a central role in getting the Hillsborough law passed.
The second was becoming mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017 and building what he now calls “Manchesterism” (Burnham himself delved into what that means for the Guardian a few days ago.) Peter describes this form of governing as “soft left, pro-growth, but quiet interventionist devolution”. It’s about giving people local powers, but intervening when necessary, and includes public ownership of utilities.
The clearest expression of this ideology is the Bee Network, Greater Manchester’s integrated transport system linking buses, trams, cycling and walking. “It’s pretty good,” Peter says. “Aside from London, it’s a model of how UK cities can do integrated transport.”
Peter remembers how fervently burnham was pushing for this kind of governing at the labour party conference in 2021, when Starmer was in opposition and Labour were suffering under the Boris Johnson vaccine bounce. “I actually asked his aide at the time the number of fringe meetings he’d been to, and they had lost count,” he says. “He would say then,’this is what it’s like to be Labour actually in power. This is what we need to do’.” It places him on the left, Peter says, but far from the politics of the Jeremy Corbyn era.
To bl
“No 10’s argument is that the only way we can beat Reform UK is by making people feel that their daily lives are getting better,” Peter says. “So schools are better, hospitals are better, people have more money in their pocket. And anything that doesn’t do that is taking away the party’s central message.”
But the local election is looming and there are threats from all sides. In Wales, Labour is forecast to do “very, very badly”, Peter says. In England, councils that have been Labour “since the dawn of time” are under threat. In London, Reform could take outer boroughs, while the greens eye inner ones.
A red wedding is coming. Time will tell whether Burnham or Starmer is the unfortunate groom.
What else we’ve been reading
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Joel Snape has some Football | Thierno Barry, the £27m summer signing from villarreal, struck his fourth goal in five Premier League games to earn everton a 1-1 draw against profligate Leeds.
Tennis | World no 1 Aryna Sabalenka ended the teenage challenge at the Australian Open with an emphatic quarter-final final victory over Iva Jovic.
Rugby | The Rugby Football Union is hopeful a proposed overhaul of Twickenham rail station and the deployment of undercover police officers on matchdays will help sway opponents of plans to host more concerts to pay for the £660m stadium upgrade.
The front pages
Photograph: The Guardian “tories face backlash after ‘mental health’ jibe over Braverman’s exit” is top story at the Guardian. The i paper splashed on “Tories weaponise ‘mental health’ claim on defector Braverman – as exodus grows”, while the Mirror ran “Reform’s latest Con” and the Tele
Okay, I will process the provided text according to the detailed instructions, focusing on adversarial research, entity-based geo, and semantic answer rules.
PHASE 1: ADVERSARIAL RESEARCH, FRESHNESS & BREAKING-NEWS CHECK
the text references a statement by “Myers” regarding feeling out of place in gaming media and advertising targeted towards teenage boys. A search reveals this likely refers to Bonnie Meyer, co-founder of Girls Make Games. The article originates from The Guardian in February 2018.
Breaking News Check (as of 2026/01/27 06:58:27): Girls Make Games continues to operate as of January 2026, offering summer camps and game development programs for girls. Girls Make Games official website.There have been no major controversies or significant changes in the organization’s mission as 2018. The broader issue of gender representation in gaming remains a topic of ongoing discussion and enhancement, but no new legal rulings or major policy changes directly relate to this specific statement as of the current date. Statista: Gender split of US gamers shows a continued, though narrowing, gap in representation.
PHASE 2: ENTITY-BASED GEO (GENERATIVE ENGINE OPTIMIZATION)
Primary Entity: Bonnie Meyer (co-founder of Girls Make games)
Related Entities: Girls Make Games, The Guardian, Gaming Industry, Gender Representation in STEM, Teenage Boys (as a demographic in advertising).Girls Make Games and the Push for Inclusive Gaming
Bonnie Meyer: Founding Vision and Motivation
The The guardian‘s Coverage of Gender Representation
Gaming Industry Demographics and Trends
PHASE 3: SEMANTIC ANSWER RULE
Girls Make Games and the Push for Inclusive Gaming
- Definition / Direct Answer: Girls Make Games is an organization dedicated to empowering girls to create video games and pursue careers in STEM fields, founded in response to a historical lack of representation in the gaming industry.
- Detail: The organization was founded to address the underrepresentation of girls and women in game development and gaming culture. Historically, the gaming industry and its marketing have been heavily geared towards male audiences, leading to feelings of exclusion among female gamers. Girls Make Games provides summer camps, workshops, and other programs to teach girls game design, programming, and art.
- Example or Evidence: Bonnie Meyer, co-founder of Girls Make Games, stated in a 2018 interview with The Guardian that she wanted to create a space where girls felt included, stating, “It should have existed before, when I and millions of other girls who grew up playing games were made to feel out of place by media and advertising that was laser-focused on teenage boys. But it’s not too late for me to make sure it exists now.”
The Guardian’s Coverage of Gender Representation
- Definition / Direct Answer: the Guardian has consistently reported on issues of gender representation within the gaming industry, highlighting the experiences of female gamers and developers.
- detail: The publication’s coverage extends to examining the marketing practices of game companies, the prevalence of sexism in online gaming communities, and the efforts to promote diversity and inclusion. Their reporting often features interviews with individuals working to change the industry’s culture.
- Example or Evidence: The Guardian published the article containing Meyer’s quote on February 12, 2018, demonstrating their commitment to covering this topic. The Guardian article.
Gaming Industry Demographics and Trends
- Definition / Direct Answer: The gaming industry has historically been dominated by male players and developers, but recent trends indicate a growing female audience and increasing efforts towards inclusivity.
- Detail: While the percentage of female gamers has been steadily increasing, it remains lower than that of male gamers. This disparity is reflected in the types of games developed, the characters portrayed, and the marketing strategies employed. Industry organizations are now actively working to address these imbalances.
- Example or Evidence: According to Statista, as of 2023, 46% of gamers in the United states are female. Statista: Gender split of US gamers. This represents an increase from previous years, but a gap still exists.
