Andy Burnham has hit out at Labour’s ban on him speaking at the party’s conference in Brighton, claiming it’s a snub for the North of England.

Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour high command had attempted to exclude both Mr Burnham, mayor of Great Manchester, and London's mayor Sadiq Khan.

It was claimed that Mr Corbyn imposed the ban in revenge for the two mayors - Labour's two most senior elected politicians - criticising his leadership.

But after a backlash against the ban on Mr Khan, the party leadership backed down and the London mayor is now due to address the conference on Monday afternoon.

But there is still no slot for Mr Burnham, a former Labour Cabinet minister, Shadow cabinet member and a leadership contender against Mr Corbyn in 2015.


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Ironically, Mr Burnham will get a chance to address Conservative MPs and activists during their conference in Manchester next week.

There was some discussion about him being invited to make a welcoming speech to the Tories as the city's mayor, but he is now due to speak at a fringe meeting.

Asked by Sky News if he would be speaking at the Labour conference, Mr Burnham said: "I'm not sadly. I've spoken at Labour conference for ten years.

"This year, people are getting a break from my dodgy jokes and my rhetoric."

And he added: "I'm just disappointed that there are no other prominent northern city leaders speaking.

"The party needs to be less London-centric. It's not a criticism of the current leadership. It has been the same under Ed Miliband, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

"Again, I repeat a call I've made many times. They need to be less London-centric and give a more prominent voice to the North."

Earlier Mr Burnham said in a TV interview: "It's not about me having a divine right to speak at conference. But it disappoints me that there is no prominent northern voice from one of the cities speaking to balance Sadiq Khan.

"This is not a Jeremy criticism. This is institutional. The party is too London-centric. It isn't thinking enough about getting a strong message to voters in the North.

"What troubles me a little is that we have got the mayor of London speaking but not the mayor of Liverpool city region, Steve Rotheram. Not the leader of Newcastle City Council, Nick Forbes.

"Why haven't we got balance here? What does it say about the party's commitment to devolution? It could suggest that it's half-hearted. I would say to them 'Let's not do this again'."

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Although both men deny they have fallen out, relations between Mr Burnham and Mr Corbyn have been poor since the former Leigh MP was elected as mayor in May.

Mr Corbyn travelled to Manchester to congratulate Mr Burnham after his victory, but the new mayor chose to attend a Champagne celebration with his supporters instead.

Mr Khan's reprieve came after Mr Corbyn's inner circle was overruled by the Labour Party's conference arrangements committee, which is in charge of debates and speakers.

Their decision followed protests from London Labour MPs, including Andy Slaughter, who said the mayor should be able to speak given his historic success in the capital's election last year.

"Sadiq should obviously be speaking as the most senior Labour person in government in England. And as the person in the most successful region electorally with the biggest personal mandate," he told the London Evening Standard.

:: Labour's conference also got off to a bad start for mayors Burnham, Khan and Rotheram when they played in a Labour Party football team beaten 6-0 by a team of political journalists.