Starmer is still in office, but his authority is shot. Politically, he’s a dead man walking, staggering blindly from one blunder to the next as his support withers away. The only real question now is who replaces him. With Manchester mayor Andy Burnham edging closer to Westminster, that question becomes more urgent by the day.

Burnham hasn’t even entered Parliament, but his looming return has exposed the Starmer’s loss of control over his own party. Worse, it’s trapped Starmer in a political Catch-22. Every possible response to Burnham’s challenge confirms the verdict that’s already been reached. Starmer is doomed.

He's hit a total dead end. Every policy ends in a humiliating U-turn. Winter fuel, welfare cuts, inheritance tax on farmers, digital ID, grooming gangs, two-child benefit cap, business rates on pubs and now the Chagos Islands.

Each reversal chips away at what little authority he has left. Every attempted reset only underlines how hollow his leadership has become.

The country has had enough, and now Labour has too. But there's a problem. Getting rid of Starmer will only highlight that it's washed up too.

Labour is lost. We now live in a harsh world of power politics that has no patience for its virtue signalling. Britain needs to rebuild defence, rein in spending and make an aggressive push for growth if it’s to avoid fiscal collapse and being squeezed by hostile forces abroad, from Washington to Moscow to Beijing.

This is not Labour territory. The party just wants to spend money on worthy causes, but there’s no money left, we daren't borrow more and voters can't take more tax. We live in a hard world now.

Starmer has no good choices of his own. Burnham’s decision to return to Westminster has boxed him in. The revolt didn’t begin with Burnham, but it's crystallised around him.

If Starmer blocks Burnham using party manoeuvres, he looks weak and frightened. But if Burnham gets in, Starmer invites a rival straight onto the Labour benches. That's his personal Catch-22.

Burnham doesn’t even need to launch a leadership bid. His presence alone destabilises the PM. He’ll become a rallying point for disaffected MPs every time Starmer stumbles, which is most of the time.

Every poor poll, U-turn and false not will invite more speculation. Starmer may cling on for a while, but the party has already started planning for what comes next.

Blocking Burnham proves Starmer is too weak to lead. Welcoming him makes leading impossible. The logic is circular and merciless.

Now here's the ultimate catch. Burnham won’t be much better, in case you were wondering. Nor will Wes Streeting. Other leadership hopefuls such as Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband would be markedly worse. Starmer isn’t the real problem here, it’s Labour. The new leader will find themselves just as boxed in as the current one. The party is finished, no matter who leads it. That's Labour's Catch-22, and there's no escaping it.