Labour leadership: Burnham criticises Cooper call to quit

Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham have served alongside each other in Labour cabinets and shadow cabinets

Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has said calls from rival Yvette Cooper for him to quit the contest are "disappointing" and "quite strange".

On Monday, a spokesman for Ms Cooper said he should step aside "if he isn't prepared to offer an alternative" to left-wing frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn.

But Mr Burnham insisted he was the only one who could beat Mr Corbyn.

A source close to Ms Cooper has now told the BBC her campaign is "moving on" from the criticism of Mr Burnham.

Liz Kendall is the fourth candidate in the race to replace Ed Miliband.

Everything you need to know about the four candidates hoping to become the next Labour leader.

'The right thing'

The Cooper and Burnham camps have traded blows over their views on Mr Corbyn and their place in the contest.

A spokesman for the former said on Monday that Mr Burnham should "step back and leave it to Yvette" if he could not provide an alternative to Mr Corbyn - and also "do the right thing by the party and tell people who do still support him to put second preferences for Yvette - something he is still refusing to do".

In turn, Ms Cooper has accused Mr Burnham's camp of sexism after a source in his team said those remarks were "a stunt" straight out of her husband Ed Balls' "handbook".

Asked about her call for him to quit on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Burnham said he had "tried to keep this campaign positive".

"So I find this call disappointing, but actually quite strange, given that all the other leadership camps all agree - and they've gone on the record to say this - that I'm in second place."

Ms Cooper said she had "huge respect for all of the other candidates".

"There have been people in Andy's campaign who have wanted the other candidates to stand down," she told the BBC.

"Look that's fine. But I think this has really got to be about who is the radical and credible alternative to the Tories."

Later, a senior source close to Ms Cooper told the BBC's Ross Hawkins: "We've said our piece. They've said their piece. It's time to move on."

They added: "We're moving on from this."

Liz Kendall has hit out at those who have derided her as a "Tory"

Answering an audience question on the Labour "mudslinging" at a campaign event in London on Tuesday, Ms Kendall said: "The public must be looking on in horror or at least increasing disinterest."

She said she did not know why one of her supporters, MP Jonathan Reynolds, had urged her backers to transfer their support to Mr Burnham.

But she hit out at those who have derided her as a "Tory", saying: "Dismissing new thinking as Tory or a pale imitation of being Tory hems us in and stops us from doing the necessary thinking to win again."

Bookmaker Paddy Power said Mr Corbyn's victory was now a "done deal" and it was paying out six-figure sums on what it calls the "biggest upset in political betting history".

'Whatever capacity'

Ms Kendall has said she would not serve in a Jeremy Corbyn shadow cabinet, while Ms Cooper said the prospect was "unlikely unless Jeremy changes his view on some important things".

In contrast, Mr Burnham and Mr Corbyn have both said they could happily work with one another.

Asked during his visit to BAE Systems whether he would serve in a Corbyn cabinet, Mr Burnham did not rule it out.

"I have said I'll serve the Labour Party... I don't know if he wants me to, but I will always serve Labour in whatever capacity," he said.

Mr Burnham has praised Mr Corbyn's energy, but said he had made it clear he disagreed with him on Europe, the economy and public services.

But he refused to tell his supporters how to use their second preference votes and said "lectures from people at the top of the party... don't go down particularly well".

A number of senior Labour figures, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Lord Kinnock and David Miliband have warned - directly or indirectly - about the dangers of electing Mr Corbyn leader.

What are they arguing about?

Leadership contenders: Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Jeremy Corbyn

By Brian Wheeler, BBC political reporter

Labour's leadership contest uses the Alternative Vote system under which voters rank the candidates in order of preference.

If someone wins more than 50% of the first preference votes then they automatically become Labour leader. On current form that is most likely to be Jeremy Corbyn.

But if that doesn't happen then things start to get complicated.

Nobody thinks Jeremy Corbyn will come in third or fourth place so Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall and Andy Burnham are not really looking to pick up his second preferences.

Burnham is cosying up to Corbyn in the hope that some of his supporters, who perhaps fear he is a bit too extreme, will make Burnham their first preference instead.

He has avoided promoting the "Anyone But Corbyn" option favoured by Cooper and Kendall for fear of alienating Corbyn sympathisers. But he is also angling for second preferences from Cooper and Kendall backers.

Cooper is in the "Anyone But Corbyn" camp and has urged her supporters to put Burnham as their second preference. Her campaign is furious that he has not returned the compliment.

Kendall's team has urged her supporters to give their second preferences to Cooper or Burnham but not Corbyn.

Corbyn has said nothing at all about second preferences but he probably does not need to.

We hope that's clear…