John Sopel

And obviously this followed...

a weekend where Starmer was holed up at Chequers with his family, with his wife, Victoria, with his remaining loyalists, having a debate, I'm told a serious debate.

This wasn't sort of done and dusted until quite late on about whether or not he should fight.

And Starmer's instinct, again I'm told, and this is well documented, for much of this period was to fight.

When he's been saying over the last couple of weeks, as late as Friday morning, after that make a field result, that he would fight come what may.

He wasn't lying.

That was a real open possibility and it was his intention.

But over the course of the weekend, following in particular on Friday afternoon,

a series of what have been described as brutal conversations with his cabinet colleagues, even some of those who are not necessarily friends or allies of Andy Burnham.

Cabinet minister after cabinet minister basically telling him that the game was up, that the support within the parliamentary Labour Party had all but evaporated, and if he did choose to fight, which he could have done, that Andy Burnham...

would contest the leadership and he would almost certainly lose with the membership in what would be a bitter, protracted and acrimonious contest that would damage whatever is left of his legacy.

And clearly, that is something that in the end he's decided not to do.

But you could tell, I think, in...

in his resignation statement which you know it had dignity to it it had emotion to it but it was also pretty terse and what I think it certainly lacked and revealed is the extent to which I don't think Keir Starmer is sat in Downing Street today thinking that you know what I screwed up here or I've made a series of mistakes I think what is clear from his language and his statement

is that he blames the Labour Party.

He blames, and I think clearly loathes, Andy Burnham.

Very revealing that the two men have not spoken this weekend.

Quite extraordinary that they have not spoken with all these rumours that they would try and hash out a deal or some sort of timetable.

That has just not happened.

And so you heard in Keir Starmer, as you say, John, basically his analysis of this is that the herd moved