Britain has a new prime minister – is real change coming? Andy Burnham’s arrival at Number 10 after running unopposed for the Labour leadership has sparked hope among some progressives that the party’s hard lurch to the right may be over.
Burnham has pledged to decentralise power away from Westminster, bring essential services under public control, end rough sleeping across the country and give people “breathing space” from the cost of living crisis.
But others are sceptical, noting his appointment of pro-Israel corporate lobbyist James Purnell as his chief of staff and his decision to vote for a package of rightwing, anti-migrant reforms that will make it easier to deport refugees. He is also reportedly considering opening up North Sea oil to new drilling.
Whether Burnham represents a genuine change, or just a more palatable version of Keir Starmer, he seems keen to distinguish himself from his predecessor with a slate of more progressive policies. Novara Media contributors weigh in on what Burnham should do right away.
Michael Walker, Novara Media contributing editor
Hire some engineers
To explain why China can build high-speed rail connecting every mid-sized city while the US can’t manage a line between LA and San Francisco, the author Dan Wang points to the Chinese political class being made up of engineers while their American counterparts are made up of lawyers.
The critique applies equally to Britain, where the HS2 clusterfuck was largely a result of contractors running rings around civil servants and ministers who had no clue what they were paying for. Our new chancellor is a barrister. Our new PM studied English literature. To rebuild Britain, we’ll need people who actually know how to build things.
Declare war on the doom scroll
In his viral account of six years reporting on Burnham as Greater Manchester mayor, the Mill’s Joshi Herman was dismissive of his grasp of policy detail and sceptical that he had the killer instinct to be a good prime minister. But one thing he is good at, says Hermann, is providing moral and pastoral leadership.
If there is a cause crying out for a quasi-spiritual intervention on a national level, it’s our collective relationship to our phones. The rise of the smartphone has coincided with the shrinking of third spaces, a rise in anxiety, and even a drop-off in the birthrate. Burnham should fight Silicon Valley’s doom scroll with a commission to consider how to regulate social media companies, so they don’t steal our attention. This could include banning the infinite scroll, and even more radical policies like a “digital sabbath”.
Dalia Gebrial, Novara Live co-host
Impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel
The genocide in Gaza is the greatest moral catastrophe of our time. Burnham may not be able to stop it, but as prime minister it is squarely within his power and responsibility to end Britain’s complicity. He could start by following Spain, which has prohibited the sale of all weapons, dual-use technology and military equipment to Israel.
This would be the right thing to do even if it wasn’t popular. But it is: 56% of British people support an arms embargo on Israel. Burnham admitted Starmer “got it wrong” on Gaza, but the reaction of multiple leaders to the genocide has shown us that words are cheap. So Burnham: show us what it looks like to get it right.
Bring in universal public childcare for under-fives
The UK childcare industry is, for want of a better word, the biggest scam going. The average UK parent spends 23% of their wage on childcare. In Germany, where childcare is part of public welfare, that figure is 1%. In our privatised system, we’re paying more and getting less. By almost every metric – from staff-to-child ratios to worker conditions – British children are getting a worse start in life.
That’s because money from extortionate childcare fees and state subsidies isn’t going to children and staff. It’s going to landlords, shareholders, directors and creditors with offshore accounts. Childcare is one of the most important investments a society can make in itself: it is the bedrock of a more equal society. That’s why it belongs in public ownership, not in private pockets.
Matt Kennard, independent investigative journalist
Evict US forces and assets from British bases
Burnham has an instant decision to make about whether to continue allowing the US Air Force to use British bases – at RAF Fairford and on Diego Garcia – to strike Iran as Trump’s illegal attacks resume. He should refuse point blank – and then go further and remove US forces and assets from the 13 so-called “RAF” bases the Americans lease in Britain.
He should also evict the US military and spy agencies from UK overseas bases that have a permanent American presence, such as RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. This would send an instant message that Britain is no longer willing to participate in Washington’s international state terrorism, which is escalating under Trump.
Shut down the Israel lobby within the Labour party
Burnham has already tried to distance himself from Starmer’s pro-Israel and pro-genocide position on Gaza. But he needs to understand that he will only be able to make policy in this area freely if he dismantles the Israel lobby – which has taken control of Labour over the past three decades – from within the party.
That means, on day one, closing down Labour Friends of Israel, an organisation that was exposed by Al Jazeera as a front for the Israeli embassy in London. He should also call for an immediate end to the financing of Labour MPs by the Israel lobby or the Israeli state, meaning no more propaganda tours of Israel.
James Meadway, economist
Levy the fossil fuel industry to tackle extreme heat
In the weeks between the Makerfield byelection and Burnham’s arrival at Downing Street, heatwaves in Britain killed at least 2,700 people. Burnham should announce an immediate national maximum working temperature, backed up by a massive programme of building retrofits and urban tree planting – a cheap and effective means to reduce heat – potentially funded by a novel Extreme Weather Levy on fossil fuel investments.
Cap food prices and rents to protect Brits from global shocks
Ahead of us are further shocks to global food supplies from El Niño and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. A surge in food prices will be best dealt with by temporary price controls and building up a strategic reserve of food supplies, both of which should already be in place. But to deliver an immediate easing of the cost-of-living crisis for millions, an emergency freeze on rents – as the Spanish government has announced – would be quick and effective.
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