A comment was posted on this blog this morning, which hinted that it did not believe Andy Burnham's suggestion that “Manchesterism is the end of neoliberalism”.
I responded that Burnham seems more like a member of the Manchester School of Liberalism. This school promoted what we would now call arch-neoliberalism.
And what is clear is that Burnham is failing, very badly. Who knows when he actually has to face Parliament next week, as he is already crumbling.
This morning we have:
The usual backtracking, then.
And then there is this:
If he had not thought this through before reaching Number 10, he should never have got there.
And he is wrong, of course, to equate trade unions with single private donors. That shows a distinct lack of analytical ability.
And then there is this:
Why is no decision imminent? How much more shit in the water is required before the interests of people who cannot survive without clean water come above those of hedge funds?
And recall that he has not responded to calls from 100 or more Labour MPs for immediate reform of the parliamentary voting system.
What is more, he has still said nothing about press reform in the light of its lynching of Jason Arday.
I saw Burnham when he was first a minister.
I saw him as. failed candidate for the leadership, twice.
I thought he would fail badly this time.
He already is.
And why? Because you cannot be prime minister unless you know your own mind, why you hold your opinions and have the courage to deliver on their basis. He is possessed of none of those things.
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The workers create all wealth. Business owners just direct the exploitation and ensure the continuation of the fastest mass extinction event this planet has ever seen.
In respect of Burnham: meet the new boss, same as the old boss. He’s all about the show, just like the rest of the representative democracy sham. We don’t get to choose anything but the style of (mis)management.
“you know your own mind,” Mr Burnt-ham does not need to know his own mind cos there are other minds that do the thinking for him and call the shots . He is & always has been an order taker. The mayoralty was just an interim event – sure he may have had some minor ideas, harmless regional stuff. But now he is at the big boys table and will (note that word) follow orders (yes massa). Legitimacy and control lie elsewhere – & certainly not with Burnt-ham, yet another cipher/figure-head in a very long line.
Thank you and well said, Richard.
From Burnham’s accession, Steve Keen thought Burnham would fail and there’s a good chance he will be replaced before the next election.
I think the 1960’s bubble gum pop song that sums up Burnham pretty neatly is Bend Me, Shake Me Anyway You Want Me.
🙂
When I saw your headline re another failed PM.., the famous Beckett quote came to mind: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better”. Except in the case of both Burnham and Starmer, plus any of their uniparty successors or predecessors, it is not a case of trying to fail better. They are all failing in exactly the same way, no better, no worse, failing for the sake of their betters, who don’t want anything to fundamentally change. And nothing will, until some kind of revolution is forced upon them.
I’ve just read about the latest flip-flop, on political donationshttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/26/burnham-political-donations-influence-elections-bill
Keir Burnham’s flip-flops are coming so fast, it’s hard to keep up with them.
Aditya Chakroborty has a scary article out today,
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/27/does-nigel-farage-know-what-people-really-think-of-him-i-do-and-he-wont-like-it
which is well worth some thought, even if you don’t like what he says.
Personally, I believe the most effective way to disempower the right, is to remove the grievances they exploit – housing, NHS queues, cost of living, unemployment, gross inequality, tax injustice, the power of huge corporations. That reduces the number of things “immigrants” can be blamed for. But that does require politicians to listen to, engage with and respect my neighbours, in deprived neighbourhoods, and they aren’t good at that – and the left are particularly poor at it.
It is a mistake to think that Fa***e’s current problems will save us from fascism. There aren’t any short cuts.
Burnham’s flip-flops confirm my worst fears – he either doesn’t “get it” (like the rest of Labour), or is under the total control of his minders, just like his predecessor, as I have always suspected.
Starmer wasn’t dumped by Labour MPs, because they disagreed with him, but because he wasn’t popular. If Burnham’s first Budget, and first King’s Speech are full of flip-flops, we will go fascist in 2029.
Much to agree with
Our political parties are really just annexes of big capitalism and it is these capitalists who now dictate most UK policy. The only way to break this is to shut down the money flow, something that could only occur if a largely non-corrupt political party were to win a majority. The people of the UK lost their nation a long time ago, if we ever really had it in the first place, and taking it back will require an act of God.
I also note that reliable Andy has raised the prospects of tax rises. I will take a wild guess that these will fall on the poorest and any conversations about wealth taxes will swiftly do a Lord Lucan.
Political correspondents seem to suggest Burnham has choices – but he was given his seat by Josh Simons – a key figure in the Labour Together faction – who are funded by big business healthcare, fossil fuel, Zionist lobbyists -.
Its the ‘donors’ who call the shots. Parties are not democratic membership organisations , so there were no expectations Burnham would contemplate the kind of action need to rebuild public services, employ unemployed doctors, triple the rate of investment in renewable energy etc etc.<p>
Presumably Burnham’s mind – is to climb the political greasy pole as high as he can , but even if he did understand whats required to rebuild the country and tackle the climate emergency he has already accepted the constraints imposed by his ‘donors'<p>
I had no expectations from day one. It will be interesting to see how long he can keep convincing people he is going to do something to make peoples lives better. Six months?
It was Josh Simmons, a founding figure of the Labour Together project , who relinquished his seat for Burnham’s coronation. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise this is Labour Together 2.0
It was Josh Simmons, a founder of the Labour Together project, who relinquished his seat to facilitate Burnham’s coronation. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realise Burnham is the Labour Together 2.0 Trojan Horse
Burnham was a minister under New Labour.
He’s now PM under New New Labour.
That alone marks him out as a ready-made failed PM.
I can do nothing but agree with the post and the comments already provided.
My expectations were low from the outset, but I have decided to let myself feel disappointed this time, just a little mind, in order to break the monotony.
It now seems to me that similar to the United States we are now locked into ‘forever politics’. Our richest greediest and most anti-social people providing us with outlets for our frustration in order to maintain the gravy train they are on.
If anyone wants to understand Burnham’s thinking then they should read Head North by A.Burnham & S.Rotheram published in 2024 by orionbooks.co.uk
ISBN 978 1 3987 1973 6.
The Head North plan is on p253 and has 10 points (which are explained by both authors in the text) as follows:-
1. A Written Constitution
2. A Basic Law
3. Reform of the Voting System
4. Removal of the Whip
5. A Senate of the Nations & Regions
6. Full Devolution
7. Two Equal Paths in Education
8. A Grenfell Law
9. A Hillsborough Law
10. Net Zero to Reindustrialise the North
As they say “if you want to learn a subject then you should read at least two books on the subject by different people”. Here we have two people writing about the same ideas in one book which makes it easy.
I can’t be the only person who has, so why isn’t it being discussed here or in the media?
KUTGW
I have not read it.
That is my honest answer,
Nothing could persuade me to do so, either.
Looking at this from beyond The Wall, it seems there is little confidence in Burnham’s ability to rectify the mess that is the UK. The view of over 50% of the Scottish population (i.e. those in favour of independence) is that his approach to Scotland is similar to Boris’s: couldn’t care less and there’s no way that Scotland will be allowed to pursue independence.
His recent trip around the UK omitted both Scotland and N Ireland completely and this inevitably results in their people reading this as “couldn’t-care-less” and a personal rebuff to the politicians of both nations. His instant dismissal of all possibility of discussion with Scotland’s First Minister re an Independence referendum has made it clear that he, and not the Scottish People, sees himself as the sole arbiter. So, we can look forward to Burnham following in the footsteps of Starmer and Reeves whose visits to Scotland were kept secret until they flew back to London.
It’s increasingly clear that Burnham takes a colonial stance: extractionism is the name of the game, as it was for North Sea oil and gas, as it is now for green energy and almost certainly will be for water. Plus ça change, plus ç’est la même chose.
Very much to agree with, Ken.
Burnham visited Belfast yesterday. Apparently simply to tell us that he will not be allowing a border poll. Instead he suggested that we all need to first learn to sincerely sing in harmony together. Spread the cross community love – or else. How disappointing. Worse than this, it was a tone deaf response to the endemic crises of a corrupted and dysfunctional Stormont, rising cost of living and economic iniquities, lack of justice regarding legacy atrocities or more recent PSNI failures like the botched murder investigation of 14 year old Noah Donohoe and consequent rising social rage across the board often channelled through sectarian and racist violence. Does the British government ruling uniparty secretly want a return to their Troubles here ? Every political move that they make would suggest that they do. Either that or they are so deeply ill advised, incompetent or psychopathic the result will be the same.
The UK no longer possesses a government. I do not know what this lot are to be honest. But they are not governing in any sense of this word, any more than Maga Trump’s cartel are. It is all so exhausting.
Burnham’s attitude to the smaller countries in the union suggests hid government should be called an English regime.
Thanks Sara.
Was Burnham’s trip publicised in N Ireland in advance of his visit? I’m not aware of any information about his Belfast visit in Scottish media before today and wonder if he’s just too scared of the kind of public reaction he might get. In Scotland, we suspect that he’ll simply follow the example of Starmer and Reeves: they flew in unannounced, met their Labour Scotland colleagues and flew out again without any attempt at dialogue with the SNP. It’s widely thought here that they were more afraid of the Scottish public than the SNP.
Agreed