The right person in No 11 will do more for growth than a Department of Economics

Ancient Rome had two rulers at a time, known as a duumvirate.

- William Keegan

Now, in the UK, for a few weeks at least, we have our own duumvirate: Keir Starmer and the man in the process of deposing him, Andy Burnham.

Regular readers will know that, with the exception of the prime minister’s actions over Ukraine and his opposition to Trump’s attempt to involve us in his deluded war on Iran, I have been fairly critical of Starmer. He and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, have made multiple mis-steps on the home front – not least on economic policy and the “red lines” they invoked with regard to undoing the damage wreaked by Brexit. But he does not deserve the “hatred” supposedly expressed for him “on the doorsteps” during the Makerfield byelection.