Burnham opens new chapter in UK
Measures to tackle cost of living crisis will be followed by ten year plan
🔸Andy Burnham arrived in Downing Street with the feeling of a fresh start, even if he does not represent a new generation. He is 8 years younger than his predecessor Keir Starmer, but he was 22 year younger at the time of becoming a member of Parliament first time (2001). For a few years already, Burnham’s name has carried a promise of turning a successful municipal leadership experience into being a leader of party and country for the entire UK. He has been the gold reserve of Labour. Now that Keir Starmer’s popularity hit rock bottom, and recent by-elections signalled the shift of popular support away from Labour, the time has come to bring back Burnham. This is not a usual way for someone just entering parliament and moving to Downing Street almost immediately. Burnham tries to capitalise on coming from the North, and specifically from Manchester.
🔸Keir Starmer, who became PM in July 2024, won a parliamentary majority Labour never hed before. He must have expected to stay not for two years but two mandates. He focused on growth and normalisation in a technocratic sense, which could have worked out without a few banana skins Starmer failed to avoid. Appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US was an unforced error, and not a small one. Another example of bad judgment is the cynical support to Israel’s genocidal campagn in Gaza. On important welfare policies like the winter fuel payment and the child benefit, the prioritisation of austerity itself invited anger even if some of these measures were subject of correction or at least reviewed. While the establishment of the Corbynite Your Party was botched, Labour voters started to desert in large numbers to both Reform and the Green Party.
🔸Andy Burnham is now taking over to turn around Labour’s fortunes. He became a rising star of the party in the Blair era, usually seen as a representative of the “soft left” platform. He was cabinet minister under Gordon Brown (for culture and health) but also shadow home secretary under Corbyn (2015-7). Today his promise is to overcome factionalism in Labour, and work with all and for all. He is very different from most previous PMs. He comes from a Catholic working class upbringing, and studied in Cambridge instead of Oxford. Burnham was branded as a King of the North, knowing that the concept of the North is linked to progress in the English political dictionary. The North was the birth place of the industrial revolution and political liberalism as well. It was the heartland of the Chartists and the cradle of the cooperative movement (Rochdale). Manchester is where The Guardian newspaper comes from and Friedrich Engels also wrote his famous book there about the conditions of the working class in England.
🔸Since Burnham has been a de facto candidate to succeed Keir Starmer, he and his supporters habitually referred to “Manchesterism”, which is a vague concept alluding to Burnham’s special experience in municipal governmentin Northern England. It is beyond doubt that Manchester has been one of the success stories in Great Britain in the last 30 years. This city resisted the decline stemming from desindustrialisation, and it is in the top league not only in football but also science and culture. However, Manchester’s success cannot be just copied by Sheffield, Newcastle or Birmingham, without the national government supporting regional development more forcefully. Various governments, including Tories, have made promises in this vein, but Burnham has raised expectations beyond anyone else to deliver „good growth in every post code”.
🔸Burnham’s policy objectives are indicated by a few frequently mentioned ideas: devolution, reindustrialisation, social housing, education reform. In his first speech as Labour leader, he explained that much of the ills of British economy and society are rooted in the Thatcher era, which is correct. Without being unequivocal on this Labour would allow the Reform party to frame the economic stagnation and social malaise of the UK as a consequence of EU integration and continuing dependency. But then Burnham must prove with his policy agenda that he wants to undo Thatcherite legacy and go beyond the neoliberal constraints. Public control of services of general interest, like water and transport, will be critical tests. Besides, social care has often been mentioned by Burnham as an area in which he seriously wants to invest in.
🔸The fact that Burhnam became the seventh PM in just over a decade makes the European questionunavoidable for him. Brexit produced political instability by widening the gap between elevated expectations and diminished opportunities. Starmer started to work close with continental partners especially on issues of security (managing the war in Ukraine) but also prepared a rapprochement in a broader policy spectrum. Burnham is on the record wishing a return of the UK into the EU, but how fast and how far he can go in the next three years is a question. It’s hard to go much beyond the 2024 Labour Manifesto without seeking a stronger mandate on European reintegration from the British citizens. In 3 years we will see whether Labour can win a second mandate, and whether the US will correct anything from the direction taken by Donald Trump.
🔸Inauguration day could have been a holiday in case England had won the FIFA World Cup, which did not happen. The England team entered the tournament with more modesty than on previous occasions, but not without aspiration and confidence. The forward march was stopped by Argentina (15/07), despite England scoring first. Subsequent tactical changes (esp. substitutions) will haunt the manager Thomas Tuchel for the rest of his life. For the bronze match against France (18/07), both sides started with half of team that would not be first choices in normal circumstances. Surprisingly, for EN this was a boost while for FR this was a big drop of composure. After making 4 substitutions in half time, FR came close to equalisation, but at the end, EN regained momentum. The England win (6:4) delivering the 2nd best result ever (after the 1966 gold) can be considered a fair outcome given that in May the French champion Paris Saint-Germain won over Arsenal in the Champions League final in Budapest.