LABOUR leadership contender Yvette Cooper made a play for left votes yesterday, warning the party will not win the next general election by “swallowing the Tory manifesto.”

In a jibe at Blairite rival Liz Kendall, Ms Cooper told the Andrew Marr Show that some “colleagues” believe the election result means conceding that the Tories were right on everything.

She also distanced herself from Ms Kendall’s calls for Labour to ditch its policy of raising the top rate of tax to 50p, describing it as “the right thing to do.”

And the shadow home secretary attacked leadership favourite Andy Burnham after he delivered a benefit-bashing speech on Friday.

Mr Burnham said Labour lost votes because it was seen as “too easy” on claimants.

But Ms Cooper said his claim was not in keeping with “Labour values.”

“What I won’t do is fall into what I think is a Tory trap of using language which stigmatises those who are not working,” she said.

Ms Cooper has said though that she wants to cut corporation tax — despite Britain’s rate being the lowest in the G20 group of advanced economies.