In his first speech in the House of Commons, during the first plenary session since Parliament returned, new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham criticized former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Brexit. Thatcher led the country during the 1980s, while the referendum on leaving the European Union was made possible by then-Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, a decision that Burnham argued could have been avoided.
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His positions reflect the vision of a center-left prime minister, perhaps even further to the left than any other British leader in recent decades. Burnham wants the state to play a greater role in the British economy, in the country where capitalism was born as a social and economic system.
Addressing the social situation, he acknowledged that, after two years of Labour government under his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, the cost of living has become excessively high and the economic burden has grown heavier for many Britons. The prime minister pledged that his cabinet would continue to take control of and nationalize key public services, including water utilities and electricity distribution networks.
Another part of his announced program is the transfer of more power and responsibilities to local authorities across the country. Burnham also intends to relocate key government institutions from London to Manchester and the central and northern regions of Britain. The former mayor of Manchester, the country’s second-largest city after London, was known there by the nickname “King of the North.”
Andy Burnham also said that he would dismantle the reforms of the “Iron Lady,” Margaret Thatcher, who is credited with lifting Britain out of the economic stagnation of the 1970s. According to him, political power was centralized during the Thatcher era, economic power was privatized, and the country underwent deindustrialization, while local authorities were significantly weakened.
Regarding Brexit, Burnham’s statements suggest that he may move faster and further than Starmer in efforts to reverse the referendum decision. According to this view, Britain’s economic growth has been severely harmed over the past decade. Plans expected to be drawn up in cooperation with the Liberal Democrats also include changing Britain’s majoritarian electoral system.
Since taking office after replacing Starmer, Andy Burnham has enjoyed a politically quiet summer while Parliament was in recess. Now that the prime minister’s honeymoon period is coming to an end, an important test of his popularity will be the snap election in London. It was called following Keir Starmer’s decision to step down from Parliament as an MP, amid speculation that he could be a candidate to become NATO’s new leader.
