Is Burnham ending neoliberalism?
Andy Burnham says he wants to end 40 years of neoliberalism. A good start would be getting the water industry back into public ownership (see Barry Gardiner MP). This means more than the conference pledge to lift the Thatcher ban. It means action also on other failing and profiteering utilities like energy and postal services.
But indications so far from Burnham’s well-received conference speech and auguries of Healey’s budget are not so promising. People want change now beyond tweaks like lifting VAT on energy bills. As Kerry Postlewhite argues, investment is needed for successful devolution, public ownership, regional development, andto rescue embattled local authorities. To fund this change requires a shift in the taxation system so those with the highest incomes and assets pay more to fund our public services. Taxing bank profits is a start but closing the gap between income tax and capital gains tax would have been another. Delaying wealth distribution is not an option until after the next election, with the far right breathing down Labour’s neck.
The prime minister also talks about Manchesterism and public control. The £2 bus fare extension is progressive. However, Bryn Jones argues that measures need to go much further so they are not simply seen as lipstick on the pig. Failure to take control of the National Grid and allowing big capital to milk public infrastructure are not encouraging signs.
Brexit has been a serious blow to economic growth with trade hit hard. 10 years after Brexit, Dave Levy reports on the damage done while welcoming the PM’s commitment to look at the options of a return to the EU and joining the single market or customs union. With Trump imposing tariffs and making clear, like the far right and Putin, that he wants the breakup of the EU and a return to economic nationalism, it’s vital we lay out a path to reunion.
Reducing global warming and protecting nature could be another flagship policy where Labour can stem the flow of support to the Green Party. Sticking with the Net Zero 2050 target now abandoned by the Tories is critical, says Dave Toke. Drilling fossil fuels must be wound down, and renewables accelerated. Giving the green light to the Jackdaw gas field was a retrograde step, providing few jobs and no relief for gas prices or reducing global emissions. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has said the UK would keep gas revenues for green energy projects through a new energy wealth fund. Far more damaging would be failing to stop the Rosebank oil field. This would seriously undermine Labour’s climate credentials.
In standing up to the electoral threat of Reform and the Green Party, there is no middle way. This is why promises of jam tomorrow will not hold.
Further, proposals to extend the time people have to wait for settlement from five to 10 or 15 years, as floated by the Home Secretary, would further cede ground to Reform, seriously undermine the social care and health sectors while doing nothing for building social cohesion, as ministers like Angela Rayner have said.
Maria Exall reminds us that there is also unfinished business on employment rights, arguing that a new bill is needed to implement manifesto commitments on job security.
Glyn Ford puts the case for smart defence spending and coordination with Europe in the face of Trump’s wild provocations. Luke Cooper says the Defence Implementation Plan should be thrown out by Burnham. It wrongly proposes reductions in military personnel while putting billions into private corporations and a costly nuclear programme that would be under US, not UK, control. A rethink is vital.
Pete Chalk and Frank Hansen take a closer look at AI and alternatives, arguing that regulation and accountability is central to ensuring that the Silicon Valley tech leviathans are not allowed to profit while creating huge job losses, data centre energy drains and threats to human security.
Andrew Ryder and Iulius Rostas report on six months into the new liberal regime in Hungary with stronger support for Ukraine but warn of wider threats from the far right. This is echoed by Patrick Costello, who looks at the implosion of the Christian Democrats as the far-right AfD win big in regional German elections while also seeing the Left party make big gains in Berlin.
The far right in Europe, like Reform in the UK, wants an end to aid to Ukraine. These apologists for Putin are now joined at the hip with Donald Trump. Facing losses in the mid-terms, his deal with Putin to buy diesel while simultaneously lifting sanctions, spliced with daily verbal attacks on Zelensky, emphasises the foolhardiness of relying on the US. This is a signal for Europe to up its military and humanitarian solidarity with Ukraine. Sacha Ismail reports that the British TUC has stepped up its support in rejecting the misguided “welfare not warfare” appeasement lobby. Rebekah Morton affirms the obvious truth that higher energy and fuel prices stem from Trump’s own (following Netanyahu) unprovoked attacks on Iran and the mess created in the Straits of Hormuz. Caitlin Barr welcomes Foreign secretary Ed Miliband’s condemnation and sanctions against illegal and violent settlers in the West Bank while calling for quicker and more extensive sanctions against Israel. The films Naza and Inside Gaza reinforce this call, says Patrick Mulcahy.
Labour is pointing in the right direction. But Burnham needs to be bolder and more radical. The election hourglass is running down. Housing for the homeless and those stuck in temporary housing, jobs and training for young people, innovation and democratic control of our public services, devolved resources to local councils and mayors, a green transition, a land tax with more redistributive taxes on asset sweaters and profiteering corporations. Implementing these policies would mark a real break with neoliberalism. It’s time for Burnham to put his words into action.