Andy Burnham’s already on course to steer Labour to Green Party-lite | Politics | News
When Keir Starmer became party leader, he was not expected to win the 2024 election. After all, he was a safe couple brought in to whitewash Labour’s reputation after Jeremy Corbyn’s disastrous tenure. A weak personal brand, but heavy qualifications. Andy Burnham has the opposite problem.
Burnham has branded himself the King in the North. But parochial cleansing is not a coherent political program. The wish list also includes relocating desks to Manchester and franchising buses for ‘No 10 North’. Meanwhile, the NHS, welfare, policing and justice systems are collapsing. The economy faces serious structural problems. The world is becoming more dangerous and our armed forces remain in crisis.
So which of these did Burnham choose for her first big announcement? Israel. He chose an external conflict in which England had almost no influence, thanks to the performative gestures of his predecessor. It’s not Sudan or Ukraine on our doorstep. Even Iran, where tens of thousands of people have been shot by their own government.
This obsession with Israel is corrosive. Our future Prime Minister is happily adding fuel to the fire with MPs who discuss this issue more than domestic issues. Burnham is aware of the dangers: many racist attacks against British Jews use conflict as a pretext. Against this backdrop, the deadly synagogue attack in Manchester’s Heaton Park took place while he was mayor.
His statement began with the obligatory throat-clearing about Hamas and antisemitism, before a ritual condemnation of Israel. Days after Hamas massacred families and before any Israeli attack began, Starmer said Israel had the right to defend itself. Burnham says Labor “didn’t get it right”. He then detailed how he would single-handedly punish Israel for a war initiated and shaped by Hamas.
Labor is being cannibalized by Reform on the right and the Greens on the left. Instead of fighting for the crowded central seat, Burnham is going after the votes of “progressives” and Gazan independents in marginal seats. For many, no apology or sanction will be extreme enough.
I didn’t want Starmer to leave because worse was waiting in the wings. Now we have Burnham: anointed, unelected and leading Labor towards the Green Party.
Alex Hearn Director of Working Against Antisemitism
