Andy Burnham as new premier has hit the ground running. Mike Davis asks can we expect a change of direction from his premiership? Will we be witnessing a revival of the left in the Labour Party as a result? If the signs on both are positive will it be enough to thwart Reform UK?
These are the fundamental questions needing answers and speedy actions, which must animate socialists, greens and progressives over the next period. Burnham’s resounding victory as Labour leader and Prime Minister, in which only MPs had a direct hand, comes on the back of his success in the Makerfield by-election and seeing off Reform UK. The threat of Farage and Burnham’s potential to dampen Reform’s popularity is undoubtedly the impulse behind his ascent to No. 10.
So what are the prospects for fundamental change, a shift from Starmerism and moving the dial on public opinion?
Burnham has been relatively quiet on international policy. He has not yet unveiled his economic policies. Although we have clues on the latter from his Manchester mayorality. With John Healey as the new chancellor, we know that the fiscal rules will be adhered to. We also know that Burnham wants to provide immediate help for those feeling the cost-of-living squeeze. To that goal we have a 5% tax reduction on energy bills, proposals for a land tax and more.
The big theme running through his initial statements has been Manchesterism, developing greater devolution of power and decision making to localities, public control of utilities and a more inclusive and pluralist Labour Party.
The new cabinet is a mix of old and new senior Labour figures. But it is behind-the-scenes advisers that will be critical, that’s why it is bemusing to see Blairite James Purnell appointed as Chief of Staff.
Aside from the economy Burnham has committed to electoral reform and proportional representation. Expectations are high, particularly in Labour for a New Democracy, that change will be delivered on this front. The next round of local elections could be a starting point for change in Westminster elections.
A new economy that works for people
Time is of the essence. Burnham should be committed to the progressive aspects of the Labour Change manifesto, but there is huge scope for moving beyond, and rapidly. People need to feel the change in their living standards. Fundamentally, the challenge is on political economy. A break must be made from the neoliberalism of the past 45 years, and particularly the austerity of the last 15. Wages and salaries have been eroded in value, and public services have been shorn of staff and resources. Meanwhile, the rich have got richer, with the top five per cent seeing asset inflation, privatisation and inequitable or inadequate taxation boosting wealth for the few. Meanwhile, privatised services, particularly utilities, are failing. Water is the most conspicuous example.
The market, otherwise known as capitalism, has not delivered for the vast majority of people. Living standards continue to be squeezed. Burnham has talked of sticking to the fiscal rules, but these are self-imposed. The Tax Justice Network have for long campaigned for a wealth tax, closing tax havens and avoidance loopholes and a more progressive income tax. Burnham should not delay action if a new democratic foundational economy is to be built. The number of billionaires grows, with much of their wealth from property, land and art holdings. Numerous economists have warned that the real problem is not so much the bond markets as the dominance of the Bank of England. (see Ann Pettifor, Demystifying the Bond Markets, Chartist 341). Borrowing to invest would pay dividends in the longer term.
The far right blames migrants for the cost-of-living difficulties, whereas unrelenting profit seeking, low taxes on corporations, particularly the tech leviathans, and unequal wealth distribution lie at the heart of the problem. Labour needs to shift the focus to this ground.
Aside from the crass blunders of the Starmer government, including the initial scrapping of the Winter Fuel allowance and the initial failure to end the two-child benefit cap (later claimed by Starmer as a great advance), there was the failure to unfold a story of progressive change. Yes, there were some positive changes: the workers’ rights legislation; the Renters’ Rights Act; improvements in the minimum wage, free school meals; reducing hospital waiting lists; Great British energy and renewable advances; rail re-nationalisation. But little of this showed in people’s pockets or was promoted as part of a great reforming vision.
Creating a narrative to bind together policy advances is essential to combat the simplistic narrative of the far right: “your problem is small boats; too many immigrants; welfare scroungers”.
Appeasement of the right on migration, civil liberties, law and order, in turn, alienated leftist and youth support. The local election results on May 7th showed the disastrous consequences of that course.
Burnham needs to learn the lessons from the first two years of telling a new, joined-up story.
We have yet to discover the details of the devolution plans and what resourcing this might entail. Labour still controls a majority of mayoralties and many sizeable metropolitan cities. However, Wales has been lost to Plaid and Scotland is more strongly Scot Nationalist while Reform control many county and local councils. Investment is urgent to roll back the years of Tory austerity, which saw local authority budgets cut by up to 40%, with youth services, libraries, schools, and environmental services all feeling the squeeze. But how will this play out with the patchwork of ruling parties?
Labour also needs to embark on huge apprenticeship and training programmes to reduce the number of NEETs and implement the more progressive aspects of the Milburn report, which identified a million 16 to 24-year-olds unemployed. Job creation, employment opportunities, training and expansion of further education colleges is essential as is a continuing boost to nursery provision to enable young parents, particularly women, to work.
Democratic revolution
Electoral reform, scrapping the House of Lords, reviving local democracy, local citizen forums, and greater workplace democracy should characterise the politics of people and place, Burnham has talked about. What will a No 10 in Manchester mean? What will public control of national utilities like water, rail, buses, mail and energy look like? It must mean workers on boards, a strong consumer voice organised regionally and locally.
Other vital domestic issues: environment, housing, social care, homelessness, have been highlighted with eradicating rough sleeping, a mass council house building programme and a national care service headline proposals. Burnham urgently needs to establish effective regulation of public services in line with the Hillsborough Law and in the wake of the PO scandal, Grenfell Tower and water Industry corruption. So generally it looks like a mixed bag of the good (energy/rents), the dodgy (fiscal rules) and the ugly (immigration).
Internationalism and Europe.
Starmer seemed to be on a slow track to deeper European relations. With Trump banging the tariff drum and free trade deals trumpeted by Brexiteers producing a fraction of the trade represented by the EU, Burnham will have to get on the fast track: joining the single market must be a minimum. Public opinion in the UK has shifted to a majority for rejoining. Securing a deal on youth mobility, easier movement for creative industries, and removal of internal tariffs on trade should all be priorities. The clock is ticking to secure a tangible reset. The far right in France is ahead in polls, and if elected next year, would certainly take a more hostile attitude than Macron.
The recent report from the New Economic Foundation proposing restoring international aid to 0.7 of GDP would immensely increase UK soft power in developing nations and bring other economic benefits.
Starmer was right not to back Trump and Netanyahu’s illegal war against Iran, but hideously wrong to not advance action to support a Palestinian state and besieged Gazans still enduring a genocide by a US-backed Israeli war machine. No more arms sales, no more trade while the killing, illegal occupation and expulsion of Palestinians goes on in Gaza and the West Bank. Burnham has made a welcome statement on the Middle East conflict and embraced the International Court verdict on Israeli war crimes, but unless decisive moves are taken to translate warm words into action, the same accusations of collaboration, appeasement and apologias for Israeli war crimes will be justifiably levied.
Coupled with a genuine ethical foreign policy on Palestine, Burnham should also be rolling back legislation to restrict political protest and solidarity with Gazans. The ban on Palestine Action should be revoked. Tarring priests and pensioners with the brush of terrorism is a slippery slope for further right attacks on long-fought-for civil liberties.
On Ukraine, the aid on military, humanitarian and economic fronts must be stepped up. This is where the link with a more robust European defence system is so clearly identified. A reduction in nuclear spending would more than cover investment in air defence systems, drone warfare, conventional weapons like warships and tanks, alongside cyber intelligence systems. This could further help turn the tide against Russian imperialism while strengthening UK security. Reform UK could also be exposed for its network of links, financial, economic and digital to Putin’s regime and the oligarchs, which both profit from and bolster it.
Trump has made it clear with the US National Security Strategy that it has little interest in NATO and sees the European Union as guilty of “civilisational erasure” and a union to be destroyed. A Burnham government needs to mount a rebuttal and robust alternative to the analysis and ultra-conservative bombast contained in the plan and echoed daily by Hegseth, Rubio, Whitkoff and other US government figures.
On immigration, Labour needs a complete rethink. The new government must reject the iniquitous proposals to refuse family members to join partners who have secured refugee status and reject the harmful, unjust plan to extend settlement rights from five to fifteen or twenty years. Establishing safe routes for asylum seekers should become a major priority. This is the way to “stop the boats” as advocated by numerous refugee and human rights organisations. Mahmood’s continuing role as Home Secretary is a retrograde appointment, but the proposals must be rolled back.
Party Democracy
Thousands of good Labour people have been driven out of the Labour Party, many with unsubstantiated accusations of anti-semitism. Others have been sidelined by a monolithic right wing, epitomised by Labour Together (LT) and the malign influence of Mandelson and cronies. Young people who joined the Corbyn-led party in droves have been alienated and attracted to the Green Party with its eco-socialist rebranding from the Zack Polanski leadership. The Green party may not be a government in waiting, but it will constitute a significant force in a future general election, raising questions of tactical voting for many would-be Labour supporters and even members. Labour needs to get away from its traditional tribalism and point scoring against parties with progressive policies.
This is the time to restore LP democracy and rebuild the party as an activist members-focused organisation. There is already a campaign to reinstate Diane Abbot. This needs to be applied across the board to the many who were purged under the Starmer/McSweeney project. We need reforms to standing orders at Conference, allowing local parties to choose candidates, for example. Some LT influence remains. The point is that a single lobby group should be prevented from capturing the party, financed by outsiders and the pro-Israel lobby. We need to learn lessons of LT, McSweeney and Starmer projects.
Labour, the left and progressive forces
The “soft left” in the party in the shape of Mainstream, which Chartist has backed from the outset, has scored a significant success in aiding the election of Andy Burnham. New ideas have emanated from Burnham backers, most significantly The Productive State by Mathew Lawrence and Alex Williams. It is vital that the ideological and political groundwork is expanded to furnish the scaffolding for effective Labour campaigning and political talking points. Radical realism, as Mainstream puts it, has to be extended to cover key policy areas: housing, environment, health and social care; education; Europe; transport; childcare to name some central issues.
Mainstream, which has support from Compass, Open Labour and Momentum, should also be connecting with the trade unions, who have been conspicuously absent from many set-piece events. Trade unions themselves need to energise their grassroots with education and activities which underline their relevance in a 21st century environment, with threats of AI and robotics. Defensiveness over the green transition, in some unions, can be talked through with re-training and government aid, so members in fossil fuel industries, for example, can see a route to sustainable employment in the renewable energy sector.
As a party, Labour needs to rediscover its democratic, pluralist roots by restoring decision-making powers to CLPs and conference. Many parties have either been suspended or had candidates imposed from above. Selection rights need to be restored to local members. In parliament, the whip needs to be exercised in a more restrained and considered manner. We should have no more suspensions for MPs exercising their reasoned or democratic views, especially if aligned to party policy and values. Diane Abbot, for example, should have the whip restored.
Combating the far right
A major threat is the growth of far-right and fascist movements, both in and to the right of Reform UK. The world’s richest man backs outright fascists like Tommy Robinson and Restore UK, who campaign for mass deportations, “remigration”, white nativism and overtly Islamophobic platforms. It is no coincidence that they also have close relations with Putin and his despotic regime.
The Together Alliance, alongside long-standing anti-racist groups like Hope Not Hate need to find a way to collaborate and develop deeper roots in the trade unions and community organisations. Demonstrations and events need to be strewn with national and local trade union banners as well as grassroots organisations representing minority communities.
So it’s too early to say whether Reform can be turned back, although Burnham’s own ratings have helped boost Labour’s polling, and the farce of Farage’s self-imposed Clacton by-election does him no favours. Similarly, on Party membership, we have yet to see the enthusiasm marshalled to win the Makerfield by-election translate into growing party membership. The Manchester mayor’s by-election will be the next test.
Labour has under three years to rebuild its membership, set out a commanding narrative around progressive redistributive policies and build the necessary alliances to win against the far right. We are in the foothills with a mountain to climb. Burnham brings strong communication skills, charisma and renewed energy, combined with a political vision. The radical politics need to follow. Chartist will aim to play its part in shifting the dial towards the democratic socialist solutions needed to transform our society.