Sir Keir Starmer has said coup plotters against him should stop "wasting" their time on and focus on ending the cost of living crisis.
The Prime Minister was quizzed en route to the G20 summit in South Africa about whether his allies had been helpful in saying that he would fight any leadership challenge in a week of "coup coverage".
Mr Starmer said: "My message would be very much that every minute that we are not talking about the cost of living and straining every sinew to ensure that those that need our help in relation to the cost of living and feeling better off and having a better health service and feeling safer and more secure in their community is a minute wasted."
Asked if they should "pipe down", the PM added: "We need to focus on what matters to the country and what matters to the country above all else is the cost of living and that’s where my focus is.
TRENDING
Stories
Videos
Your Say
"And even minute we’re not focussed on that is a minute that is wasted in the Government."
The Prime Minister, in defence of his latest mammoth trip, explained: "If you want to deal with the cost of living and make people better off with good, secure jobs, investment from G20 partners and allies is really important.
"Those discussions from those relations … are measured in real jobs back in the UK that are really important when the economy and the cost of living is the most important thing."
Mr Starmer also praised Andy Burnham, saying he is "doing a really good job as the mayor of Manchester", after his refusal to rule out a potential leadership challenge against the Labour leader.
Sir Keir Starmer has said coup plotters against him should stop 'wasting' their time on and focus on ending the cost of living crisis when being quizzed en route to the G20 summit in South Africa
|REUTERS
When pressed on BBC Breakfast if he could categorically rule out any challenge, Mr Burnham replied: "I am not going to sit here this morning and rule out what might or might not happen because I don’t know what the future will hold."
When asked again about any potential challenge, Mr Burnham said: "I am not in a position this morning to do that."
The conversation about Mr Burnham's potential ambitions blew up earlier in the week, when MP for Norwich South Clive Lewis said he would give up his seat so that the mayor, who sat in parliament between 2001 and 2017, could challenge Mr Starmer.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester had earlier said on BBC Radio 4, while he appreciated Mr Lewis’s offer, he "couldn’t have brought forward a plan of the kind I’ve brought forward today without being fully focused on my role as Mayor of Greater Manchester".
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham refused to rule out a leadership challenge in a recent interview
|PA
Mr Burnham told The Telegraph back in September that he "never ruled out going back to Westminster", while revealing that Labour MPs had privately encouraged him to oust the Prime Minister.
"I’m providing leadership on growth, which is what I think the country needs and is helpful to the Government right now, and we’re doing in advance of the Budget.“I hope to really bring to life the growth story for the Government," he said
"In Greater Manchester, we’ve built a new economy and a new way of doing politics, and more of that is what the country needs."
The leadership speculation comes amid a chaotic Budget period for Mr Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Just last week, Ms Reeves is said to have put the handbrake on controversial plans to raise income tax rate, something that would have directly contradicted her party's 2024 election manifesto.
The Chancellor will announce her second Budget after Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, November 26.
Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
More From GB News