Burnham to promise to undo Thatcher’s economic legacy in first speech as Labour leader
Andy Burnham will further strengthen his pledge to roll back Margaret Thatcher’s economic deal when he makes his first speech as Labor leader on Friday.
The former mayor of Manchester will be confirmed unopposed to replace Sir Keir Starmer at a special conference in London after receiving nominations from almost all MPs.
With the support of 81 MPs to be nominated for the race, only Catherine West MP Neil Coyle received a nomination, while the remaining 26 MPs backed Mr Burnham.
The recently elected MP for Makerfield will take over as prime minister on Monday when parliament is prorogued, meaning he will not face any scrutiny until September.
Addressing the party in his first speech as leader, Mr Burnham will make clear he wants to roll back much of the UK’s Thatcherite economic deal.
The New Labor leader will warn that Britain took a series of wrong paths in the 1980s when “political power was centralized and economic power was privatised”.
To build an economy and country that works for all people and places, Mr Burnham will say this requires “a new path to the one we have been on for the last 40 years”.
The speech would also mean a rejection of the legacy of former Labor prime minister Sir Tony Blair, for whom Mr Burnham served as a minister but also acknowledged the economic legacy of Margaret Thatcher.
In a sign that he intends to turn left, Mr Burnham warned that “trickle down” economics did not work.
While he appears set to choose someone from the party’s right – current home secretary Shabana Mahmood – as its new chancellor, he is also expected to carry out much of his economic policy through Downing Street.
It has also been claimed that he will try to raise an extra £38bn in taxes. Meanwhile, he has not ruled out introducing a wealth tax, backed by one of his key lieutenants, Louise Haigh, who is expected to be appointed chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who runs the Cabinet Office, the engine of government and the focal point of policy.
Mr Burnham will say his government will have the “courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected” and the “conviction to defend our plans”.
He will also say Labor must give people across Britain “hope that we can make this country the best it can be” and argue that only a confident Labor government can “lift Britain up” by putting people and places at the center of national decision-making.
He will say the government he leads will be truly Labour, arguing that Labor must present a confident alternative rooted in its values, with a vision of a ‘distinctive Labour’ program of economic renewal, greater public control, re-industrialisation and the transfer of power to local communities.
The future prime minister will also promise that the party he leads will “be unashamedly Labor in our priorities and the decisions we make, putting people and places at the heart of everything we do.”
Mr Burnham will say that under his leadership Labor will become more united, focus on practical solutions rather than internal division and be more open to working with other parties on the long-term challenges facing the country.
He will pledge to be a leader “for North and South, for Scotland, for Wales, for Northern Ireland and for every town and every city in every nation and region of this great country.”
He will also pay tribute to Sir Keir for returning Labor to government, crediting him with taking the party “from the worst election defeat in a century to one of the biggest election victories in our history”.
He will praise the Labor government’s achievements, including stronger workers’ rights, NHS improvements, investment in public services and the passage of the Hillsborough Act.
