By Dave Burke

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Andy Burnham has said MPs are urging him to challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership. In a swipe at the PM, he said Mr Starmer’s team have created a “climate of fear” – with “wholesale change” needed to turn things around. It comes amid growing speculation tha that he plans a return to Westminster, with a leadership bid on the horizon. In an interview with The Telegraph, the Greater Manchester Mayor said there is an “existential” threat to the Labour Party . He called for higher council tax on homes in the south and a 50p top rate of interest. Mr Burnham, nicknamed the King of the North, said there is a “huge underpayment of tax that should now be corrected” in London and the south east. When asked by The Telegraph whether anyone had encouraged him to run, the former Health Secretary said: “People have contacted me throughout the summer – yeah. “I’m not going to say to you that that hasn’t happened, but as I say, it’s more a decision for those people than it is for me.” He insisted he is not plotting an immediate return to Parliament or wanting to step on the Government’s toes as it seeks a reset at the Labour Party conference. But the senior Labour politician told the New Statesman that the gathering in Liverpool starting on Sunday must answer the question “where is our plan to turn the country around?” “I’m going to put the question back to people at Labour conference: are we up for that wholesale change?” He said returning to “the old way of doing things in Westminster with minimal change” was an unattractive prospect, but that he was ready to “work with anybody who wants to… put in place a plan to turn the country around.” “I’m happy to play any role. I am ready to play any role in that. Yes. Because the threat we’re facing is increasingly an existential one.” Mr Burnham said he would back an “”aspirational socialism” agenda – calling for more public control of housing, energy, water and rail, and to “get back to speaking to working-class ambition”. And he indicated he would be willing to work with the Lib Dems and even Jeremy Corbyn . Suggesting he still harbours ambitions for No 10, he said: “I stood twice to be leader of the Labour Party. And I think that tells you, doesn’t it?” Mr Burnham told the New Statesman it would be a “wrench” to leave his current role and but repeatedly declined to rule out a tilt at the leadership. A Labour source hit back: “I’ve heard of a stalking horse, but this guy is going to get hoarse from his endless stalking.” Mr Bunrham has thrown his weight behind former Commons leader Lucy Powell in the race to succeed Angela Rayner as Labour deputy leader. He believes the Manchester Central MP’s victory would be key to weakening Downing Street’s grip on the party, according to The New Statesman. But Housing Secretary Steve Reed – a key ally of Mr Starmer – dismissed the talk of a leadership challenge as “tittle-tattle”. The Labour frontbencher told Times Radio: “I’ve seen this movie before. “When we were in opposition, we used to hear similar things about Keir Starmer. That was before he picked this party up off the floor and led us into a record-breaking general election victory. “Now our job is to get on and change the country.” He added: “Change is what people voted for, change is what we’re going to deliver, and I’m not going to be diverted by tittle-tattle in the papers.”