Jon Trickett MP: Here’s what Andy Burnham should do in his first 100 days

For many, a change in Prime Minister has brought a glimmer of hope after years of government which simply managed the neoliberal consensus which has failed millions of working people. 

Andy Burnham had rightly identified that the last 40 years which has seen deindustrialisation of  communities, low wages, temporary contracts as well as food poverty and hunger,   financialisation of the economy and strict adherence to a failed treasury orthodoxy has resulted in the problems which the country increasingly faces. He told the Makerfield voters that he would put an end to all this.

The Prime Minister has indicated that he will announce a ten-year plan later in the year. It remains to be seen how he will proceed. The first 100 days of his premiership will be make or break. Working people across Britain have rightly lost patience with successive governments. Trust in politics and its institutions is at a low. And Burnham does not have long to prove himself as different to his predecessors. 

Some initial steps look promising.  Others less so. Tinkering around the edges with policies that merely ameliorate the status quo will not be enough. What is needed is a fundamental rupture with the current economic and political system and an overhaul of the role and structures of the British state. A bold programme with an even bolder willpower is required to even attempt to start to turn the tide of decades of centralisation, cuts to services and pressures on the cost of living. 

It will mean tackling the economic and political effects of globalisation, and it will not be easy.

I did not endorse Andy Burnham when most of the parliamentary Labour Party did. The reason for this was that I was yet to be convinced that he could promote and deliver the change of course needed. His first few days as Prime Minister have not changed my view. Although the policies he has announced such as bus fare caps, business rate reliefs and a pledge to end homelessness are welcome, I want to see Andy Burnham’s vision for a new economic and political settlement. 

One anomalous factor is that when analysis is carried out of the members of Burnham’s new Cabinet, only two (Burnham and Midgeley) never served on Starmers’ front bench. All the rest had been party to governments which had been supporting the last ‘failed’ 40 years of neoliberal government.  Equally anomalous is the fact that the Labour MPs who had consistently opposed neoliberal policies in the Campaign Group were all excluded from the front bench.

Of course, we should not forget Tony Benn’s view that we shouldn’t  judge personalities, only their policies.  But here again there have been missteps: endorsing US bombing raids from UK sites is one.  Another of more immediate concern is the announcement that we will follow Rachel Reeve’s fiscal strategy, followed by Angela Rayner’s announcement that we will not cap rent levels.  On the other hand there have been many welcome announcements on cost of living and council house building.

So let’s lay down some positive suggestions.  The new government needs to put rocket boosters under its first actions. You can’t do everything you want to do in a few weeks. But progress on the following would be welcome:

1. Lay out a clear and unambiguous narrative which explains the structural defects in the way our country has been managed, at the core of which are entrenched class divisions that cannot be allowed to persist;
2. Start to outline a fundamental shift in wealth and power from the very richest to working people across the regions and nations;
3. Deliver real change at the top of government by assembling a fresh cabinet team, capable of delivering a fundamentally different political project to that of Starmer and his inner circle;
4. Make a series of radical policy announcements, in line with the above narrative, rolled out more or less daily during the August recess, with clear timescales for implementation;
5. Embark on a regional tour throughout the UK, connecting with people who feel they have had no input into how their communities have been damaged and who feel they have been held back;
6. Establish a clear and robust line on Gaza and the Middle East which breaks with the Washington Consensus;
7. Outline a bold and radical vision which aims to mobilise millions of progressives, regions and nations which have been held back, and the BAME community.

If a politics of place, solidarity and active government takes shape under Burnham, Britain may yet rebuild a more balanced and more democratic economy. If it doesn’t, the vacuum is unlikely to remain empty for long. One thing for sure, the Left will be there every step of the way with our customary positive and optimistic voices encouraging progress.