Andy Burnham has launched another thinly-veiled barb at Keir Starmer, suggesting that the Makerfield by-election could make it the 'most powerful constituency in the land'. The Greater Manchester Mayor hinted that the contest, set for June 18, could pave the way for him to seize Downing Street as Labour descends deeper into civil war.
Burnham's Ambition
In a video posted on X, Mr Burnham stressed his links to the Wigan area and attempted to counter anger that he is using the by-election as a springboard to become Prime Minister. 'If you do give me your backing I think it could make Makerfield the most powerful constituency in the land,' the former Cabinet minister said. 'Imagine the voice that we would have.'
Mr Burnham is trying to overcome Reform UK in the Commons contest, with the first poll showing the two candidates essentially neck and neck. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer has been desperately trying to show he is getting on with the job, as allies insist he will fight any leadership challenge.
Labour's Internal Divisions
Labour has been engaging in a bout of soul-searching about its future, with Mr Burnham and Sir Keir both rejecting warnings from Tony Blair about a 'dangerous' lurch to the Left. Sir Tony pleaded for Labour to take a 'radical centrist' approach, prioritising growth through curbing spending on issues such as welfare to ease the tax burden.
But Mr Burnham accused his former boss of failing to reject Margaret Thatcher's legacy and called for more state control. He attributed economic success in Manchester to a 'very interventionist' approach, arguing that markets should not dictate policy.
Burnham's Critique of Blair
Writing in The Times, Mr Burnham stated: 'The lesson from Greater Manchester is that you can't just leave it to the market, as Tony's essay seems to suggest. If you want higher growth in areas that don't have it, you need strong public control and direction over both the investment strategy and the enablers of a more productive economy, such as transport, energy, water, education and housing.'
Swiping at Sir Tony, he added: 'The Labour government in which I was proud to serve did many great things. It did not, however, take us off the direction set by Thatcher. This has given us 40 years of neoliberalism and the simple truth is this: it has not been kind to communities in Makerfield and those like them across the UK. Trickle-down economics did not in the end trickle down very much at all.'
Mr Burnham argued that deregulation was behind the 2008 Credit Crunch, which caused Britain's ongoing political turmoil. 'The fall in the living standards of millions, and the reality that life has got harder for most year-on-year since the financial crash in 2008, is, I believe, the gaping omission in (Sir Tony's) analysis,' he said. 'This has been the single biggest driver of the turmoil in politics he describes and the cratering of support for traditional parties of Right and Left, here and around the world.'
Starmer's Response
In his own response to Sir Tony, Sir Keir said during a visit to a London train depot: 'My response to Tony is, yes, it's right to talk about policy, it's right to talk about ideas, that's where the debate should be. But actually no, I don't agree that the policy choices of this Government weren't the right policy choices given what we inherited, a very different situation in 2024 to 1997.'
In his essay, Sir Tony savaged Labour's flagship workers' rights laws and minimum wage increase, while demanding the PM ditch net zero targets, cut welfare and rethink the pensions triple lock. He also accused the party of being more interested in increasing state benefits than in boosting the economy.
Elsewhere in his intervention, Sir Tony warned that Labour was in danger of losing the next election because it had no 'coherent plan' for the country. He said his party has retreated into a Left-wing 'comfort zone' as he warned against moving even further Left.
