Andy Burnham’s first speech as Prime Minister divided Independent readers straight away, with reaction to the new PM ranging from warm comparisons to Tony Blair’s first day in office to weary cynicism about yet another change of face in Downing Street.
Speaking outside No 10 after ‘kissing hands’ with the King, Burnham promised a ‘new national sense of unity’, a ten-year plan, and immediate measures to ease the cost-of-living squeeze – enough, for some readers, to suggest a genuine change of direction. Others weren’t convinced, dismissing it as a new slogan from the seventh prime minister in a decade.
But it was one specific pledge that drew the sharpest reaction: Burnham’s promise to ‘end rough sleeping in our country’, backed by £340 million.
Readers were quick to note he made a near-identical promise as Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017, targeting 2020, and missed it – with official figures showing rough sleeping in the area has since risen for four consecutive years.
Here’s what you had to say:
A reminder of Blair’s first day
We shouldn’t get carried away, but that speech, and the response Burnham got from those present in Downing Street, reminded me a bit of Tony Blair’s first day as prime minister.
He has warmth and charisma.
How’s he going to do that in the whole country?
So the first thing he said he would do was rid the streets of ‘rough sleeping’. In 2017 Burnham ‘pledged’ to end rough sleeping in Greater Manchester by 2020. He not only missed the target – official figures show that the crisis persists, with the number of rough sleepers in the area rising for four consecutive years. If he couldn’t achieve his ‘pledge’ in nine years in Manchester, how’s he going to do that in the whole country?
Lack of policy detail
I wish Andy Burnham well – we all should – but I’m concerned at the lack of policy detail. If you are presenting yourself as an alternative to the previous incumbent, you need to say clearly what your policies are. The key changes I’d like to see: a timescale for introducing proportional representation, a commitment to rejoin the EU, support for those paying high energy bills, a plan to boost productivity, and a commitment to the triple lock beyond this parliament.
Could this be what he has in mind?
It’s interesting what Burnham said on ending rough sleeping. Clearly the construction of new council housing is not going to have any effect for many years, or even decades, to come, and if anything will probably fail to replace the slump in the construction of housing association accommodation over the last couple of years. Still, hard-left, centrally planned regimes have previously succeeded in reducing the visibility of rough sleeping. In the Soviet Union, for example, they initiated ‘anti-parasitism’ laws which allowed rough sleepers to be sent to the gulags, whilst residency requirements could prevent them from living within major cities (perhaps the devolved mayoralties) and forced them to become effectively invisible by being banished to the countryside. Could this be what he has in mind?
It’s really good he’s already acting
There are so many challenges for Andy Burnham to face from today onwards, and none will be fixed overnight. It’s really good that he has already decided to take steps to utilise our North Sea oil and gas reserves. His resolve to deal with shortcomings in our social care system is heartening, as is his plan to increase social and affordable housing.
He failed to do it in Manchester
To be fair to Burnham, the purpose of these speeches is to set an upbeat tone and thank supporters, not announce policy. What was surprising was his decision to make a very specific announcement about rough sleeping backed up by a substantial amount of cash. While ending rough sleeping is a noble ambition, he failed to do it in Manchester and, with everyone strapped for cash, I wonder how the £340 million for this scheme will play with voters struggling to pay their own bills.
It really is ‘whatever’
I have two problems with Burnham. The first is his Blairite past. But even then, my second problem is these are almost word for word what Starmer told Labour members to win the leadership, before turning round on the people who voted for him. I’m now so worn down by past prime ministers’ lies that I find myself incapable of accepting any words from them at all. It really is ‘whatever’.
IMF with a begging bowl
He said he was going to build a ‘new economy’. We have a high-cost, high-tax, slow-growth economy, with rising regulation and employment costs loaded onto employers. The wealthy, the investors and the retired middle classes can and are leaving. So what is Burnham’s road map to a ‘new economy’ that doesn’t end up at the IMF with a begging bowl?
Just changing the face and glasses
Seems as though they’re just changing the face and glasses for the sake of it. No idea what was wrong with Starmer (he was ‘dull’, so what). Burnham has no ideas, except a new slogan – instead of ‘smash the gangs’ or ‘my father was a toolmaker’, now it’s ‘hope in every postcode’.
Choose someone, anyone, and stay with them, have at least the courage of your convictions LP, whoever you appoint.
He didn’t have the guts to talk about the EU
Rejoining the EU would probably fix a good part of our issues, but he didn’t have the guts to talk about the EU at all – even though it’s an open secret that most politicians agree with it privately.
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
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