Andy Burnham has staked his future on a gamble that the public will back radical progressive policies on social care, electoral reform and Europe, telling voters that his agenda will break the mould of the last 40 years and “allow us to rise again”. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
In a deeply personal speech at Labour’s conference, Burnham began building his next general election manifesto, acknowledging that he may end up paying the price for creating sharp new dividing lines in politics.
“I won’t pretend some of this won’t be difficult,” he said. “I accept I may pay a political price. But someone has to go through the pain barrier and rip the plaster off.”
However, while the prime minister said he would try to give people some “breathing space” on the cost of living, he admitted his ambitious policy prospectus would have to wait until after the next election because of the state of the public finances.
“These things are not everything, but I hope you will see it as a sign – a strong one – of our intent to get your bills and fares down as you wait for the bigger changes to come,” he told Labour activists.
“I would love to go quicker, but I have to be honest about what the country can afford. I will stick to our fiscal rules to get borrowing and debt down. The approach I am outlining today is the responsible one.”
With global economic storm clouds gathering and Labour dropping behind Reform UK in one poll this week, Burnham was determined to leave his audience in the conference hall in Liverpool, and at home, some hope.
During his hour-long speech, in which he paused several times after being overcome with emotion at mentioning the death of his father, he said he wanted to show the UK was “something worth saving, worth fighting for”.
He said: “I believe the plan I have outlined today will not just hold us together, it will allow us to rise again.
“Today we draw a line on a decade of division. We stop doomscrolling on posts running Britain down. And we put the country on a new path.”
Burnham promised to be unflinchingly honest with the public about where, in his view, the country had gone wrong, saying it was time to admit “Brexit hasn’t given us control” and that it was a handbrake on growth.
In his strongest hint yet that he would look again at the UK’s membership of EU, he said he would set out plans for a longer-term relationship with the bloc at the reset summit this autumn.
Options could include trading relationships along the lines that Norway, Switzerland or Canada have with the EU, the customs union or single market, or even reversing Brexit in its entirety.
“We will not give Britain the clear path we need into the rest of this century until we decide on a long-term relationship with what is still our largest market,” he said. “I cannot say to you truthfully that where we are is good enough. Brexit has done more harm than good. We need to restore a high level of growth and prosperity for Britain.”
While public attitudes towards leaving the EU have shifted over time, Burnham’s shift away from Keir Starmer’s manifesto red lines will still be a big political gamble in seats such as his own, Makerfield, which voted for Brexit.
Burnham confirmed he would end the pensions triple lock should Labour win the next election and use the savings to fund a national care service in England that would be free at the point of use.
He plans to break the link between wage growth and pensions and promised instead a rise based on inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher, which he claimed would still leave millions of pensioners better off.
He said pensioners would benefit from the new care system – which would be expected to follow the Scottish system in covering care costs but not accommodation – and a promise to exempt them from income tax.
Burnham suggested that care workers were “invisible to the political class” but he told them: “You are not invisible to me. I see you. I thank you. And I am sorry that my profession has let down yours for so long.”
As well as a promise to fix the broken system, the prime minister’s words will be interpreted as a sign he is preparing to carve out migrant care workers from Shabana Mahmood’s immigration measures.
In another commitment to a long-held belief, Burnham also confirmed he would put electoral reform in Labour’s next manifesto, announcing a cross-party national commission to consider options to replace first past the post with a form of proportional representation.
“We can’t succeed in the eyes of the world if we continue with the levels of political turbulence we have seen in recent times,” he said. “It is always in my mind that I’m the seventh prime minister in 10 years. It is why I want to underpin our plan for Britain with a new politics.
“We will all have failed in our public duties if we carry on as we are and open the door of No 10 to a divisive government on 30% of the vote or less.”
Burnham said it was the drive of his government for every person to feel greater control over the basics of life and renew faith that systems could work for them.