Kate Osborne MP: Andy Burnham’s first 100 days must mark a decisive break with Keir Starmer’s cautious government

Kate Osborne is the Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East.

Andy Burnham’s first 100 days as Prime Minister must mark a decisive break with the caution of Labour’s first two years in government. 

We were elected in 2024 with a clear mandate for change, but too many of the promises made to working people have either been delayed, diluted or pursued without the boldness the country expected. Andy must learn from that experience, honour the commitments in our manifesto and show that his government will deliver change people can see and feel.

The 90th anniversary of the Jarrow Crusade, which will be celebrated and remembered in my constituency this year, is a good place to begin. In October 1936, 200 men marched from Jarrow to London to demand the right to work and dignity. Ninety years later, too many people in the North East are still asking where the secure, well-paid jobs and opportunities promised to our communities are.

Andy understands that regional inequality is not inevitable; it is the result of political choices. His first 100 days should therefore begin a serious programme of investment in the North, creating skilled jobs through publicly led industrial renewal, protecting strategic industries, and giving regional government the resources to rebuild transport, town centres and public services.

We must deliver economic renewal Labour promised at the 2024 election, not more plans and consultations. After two years in which the Government was too often constrained by caution and fiscal orthodoxy, Andy must be prepared to confront vested interests and ensure that economic growth improves the lives of the many, not the few.

I also want clear support from Andy for the draft Conversion Practices Bill: an important step after years of delay. I was proud to take a report through the Council of Europe calling on member states to ban these abusive practices, and pleased its framework helped inform the Government’s proposals.

Conversion practices are abuse. Legislation can protect LGBT+ people while preserving healthcare, religious freedom, family conversations and therapy. Those principles are not contradictory, and the Government must resist manufactured division and focus on protecting people from coercion and harm.

Our country has now fallen down to 22nd in the ILGA rankings. It is important that we rectify this and that the draft legislation is strengthened and faces no further delays – these abhorrent practices cannot be allowed to continue in our country. The UK are hosting IDAHOT next May, and I look forward to working with Andy to ensure this is a success.

Women’s health and fertility equality should be another early priority. As chair of the Fertility APPG, and as a parent whose family was made possible through IVF, I know how life-changing fertility treatment can be. I also know access remains deeply unequal.

Same-sex couples face discriminatory barriers, including requirements to fund rounds of artificial insemination before receiving NHS support. Provision remains a postcode lottery, determined by local policies, income and geography rather than clinical need. Some spend tens of thousands of pounds; others are priced out of parenthood altogether.

The renewed Women’s Health Strategy must lead to measurable change. Andy’s government should establish fair national eligibility standards, end additional hurdles for LGBT+ families and ensure NHS fertility treatment is available according to need, not wealth. Equality delayed is equality denied, particularly when people have a limited window in which to start a family.

His government must also reclaim our high streets from the illicit economy. In my constituency, I have brought together police, councils, trading standards and businesses to confront illegal tobacco, unsafe vapes, counterfeit goods and other criminal activity.

These are not victimless offences. Illicit traders undercut honest businesses, expose children to dangerous products, avoid tax and can provide a shopfront for organised crime and exploitation.

New licensing and closure powers are welcome, but laws are meaningless without enforcement. The first 100 days should bring a funded, cross-government plan joining up police, HMRC, trading standards and councils, with powers to pursue those behind these businesses – and make strong use of new closure orders.

Finally, Andy must ensure SEND reform is built with families, not imposed upon them.

I recently convened a meeting in my constituency with Georgia Gould, Minister for School Standards which was attended by parents, young people, teachers, support staff and professionals. They are exhausted by a system that makes them fight for every assessment, placement and piece of support. 

Reform is essential, but it cannot become a one-size-fits-all drive to place every child in mainstream education regardless of need. Inclusion must mean the right support in the right setting. For some children, particularly those with the most complex needs, that will be specialist provision.

Andy must listen and work with groups like SEND Matters to ensure  the final legislation and funding arrangement is as strong as possible.

Our next Prime Minister has an opportunity to reset Labour’s direction and rebuild trust. People have had enough of managed decline and cautious promises. They need change they can see and feel. The task for Andy Burnham is to turn our hope – of our movement, our unions and the PLP – into real delivery.