So, Andy Burnham may be challenging Starmer. Burnham looks good from a distance – the straight-talking Northerner who took on Westminster over buses and actually won. He comes across as a bloke who’d stand his ground in a pub argument, unlike Starmer who always feels like he’s mentally rehearsing cross-examination notes while you’re ordering a pint.
But here’s the problem. The Treasury’s books don’t change just because you put a Mancunian in charge. Debt interest, stagnant growth, Brexit-shrunken revenues – they’re the same whichever suit is behind the despatch box. Burnham could shout louder, posture more convincingly, but unless he was willing to smash the consensus on tax and spending, he’d end up chained to the same desk as Starmer, reciting the same excuses in a different accent.
Yes, he might be “better” in terms of authenticity, maybe even reconnecting with some of the voters Labour has lost. But the fantasy that he’d magically revive social democracy without touching Brexit, wealth taxes, or fiscal rules is just that – a fantasy. Swap Starmer for Burnham and you still have a government hemmed in by the same structural wreckage. It’s the same menu, just read out in a Manc twang instead of legalese.
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