JEREMY CORBYN won a huge boost from his nearest rival in the last leadership campaign yesterday as Andy Burnham defied pressure to resign from the shadow cabinet.

The shadow home secretary, who finished a distant second in September 2015, issued a rallying call for party unity amid a co-ordinated campaign to depose Mr Corbyn.

“At an uncertain time like this for our country, I cannot see how it makes sense for the opposition to plunge itself into a civil war,” he said.