Burnham vows to 'fix the big things' as he prepares to become PM

Andy Burnham will promise to "fix the big things that politics has neglected" as he prepares to take over as Labour leader and Britain's next prime minister, pledging to shift power away from Westminster and deliver economic growth across the country.

Burnham is expected to be formally confirmed as Labour leader on Friday before succeeding Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street on Monday, ushering in what allies say will be a new chapter for the party after two difficult years in government.

A promise of a fresh start

In his first leadership speech, Burnham is expected to argue that Britain needs a new political direction after decades of centralised government and uneven economic growth.

He will promise to return power to local communities, revive industry and pursue what he describes as an "authentically Labour" programme focused on economic renewal, public control of key services and spreading prosperity beyond London and the South East.

Burnham is expected to tell supporters Labour must give people hope that Britain can once again become "the best it can be."

Distancing himself from the Starmer years

Without directly criticising his predecessor, Burnham is expected to signal a change in style and priorities.

He has promised a more collegiate approach to leadership, saying he wants to work more closely with Labour MPs and local leaders after criticism that decision-making under Starmer became too centralised.

However, some MPs have already expressed frustration after learning that only a limited number of parliamentary colleagues will be allowed to attend Friday's leadership conference, with others required to apply for places at a later meeting.

Cabinet speculation grows

Westminster is awash with speculation over Burnham's first Cabinet, although the final line-up remains closely guarded.

The new prime minister is expected to unveil his senior ministerial team on Monday after formally entering Downing Street.

Despite promises of change, many of Starmer's senior advisers are expected to remain in key government positions, providing continuity as Burnham begins implementing his agenda.

Among those expected to stay are National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, business adviser Varun Chandra and senior policy adviser Graeme Cooke.

Several new appointments have also been made, including former Labour minister James Purnell as chief of staff and Hayden Munro as political director.

Radical policies expected

Burnham's allies say his government will move quickly to announce a series of major policy initiatives during its first week in office.

Among the measures reportedly under consideration are greater public ownership of England's water industry, including possible nationalisation or mutual ownership models for companies such as Thames Water.

The government is also expected to unveil measures aimed at tackling the cost-of-living crisis, with reports suggesting ministers are examining options including a freeze on private sector rents and further action to reduce housing costs.

Balancing Labour values with business confidence

While Burnham has promised more intervention in the economy, he also faces pressure to reassure businesses and financial markets.

Business groups have welcomed the decision to retain several experienced advisers inside Number 10, viewing it as a sign that economic stability will remain a priority.

At the same time, reports suggest Burnham may adopt a more pragmatic approach to North Sea oil and gas production than some on Labour's left would prefer.

Although he is expected to honour Labour's pledge not to issue new exploration licences, existing developments such as the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields could still proceed if they satisfy environmental and legal requirements.

Calls for change – but questions remain

Supporters argue Burnham's leadership offers Labour an opportunity to reconnect with voters after a difficult period in office.

Critics, however, question how different his government will really be if many of the senior advisers and officials from the Starmer administration remain in place.

One Labour insider described the emerging Downing Street team as "Continuity Keir," suggesting the personnel may not match Burnham's promises of radical change.

Whether Burnham can successfully combine continuity with the political reset he is promising is likely to become clear within days of entering Number 10.

SOURCE

What a surprise!

The new incoming unelected British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has hired a former director at the far-left organization Hope Not Hate to be his Director of Political Strategy.

Can you guess who has funded Hope Not Hate? None other than George Soros.

This Hope Not Hate organization is known to not only work closely with, but even have antifa operatives write for them. Hope Not Hate is an "anti-fascist campaigning group" focused on countering far-right extremism through research, undercover operations, and community outreach.

9 minutes ago, FinChin67 said:

What a surprise!

The new incoming unelected British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has hired a former director at the far-left organization Hope Not Hate to be his Director of Political Strategy.

Can you guess who has funded Hope Not Hate? None other than George Soros.

This Hope Not Hate organization is known to not only work closely with, but even have antifa operatives write for them. Hope Not Hate is an "anti-fascist campaigning group" focused on countering far-right extremism through research, undercover operations, and community outreach.

What are you on about.

Burnham was elected in a landslide.

25 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

What are you on about.

Burnham was elected in a landslide.

I was under the impression only a member of the house of lords or an MP elected in a general election can be PM in the UK. (have they changed the rules?)

Burnham can be leader of the Labour Party, but not PM ......

Unless you know different?

19 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Burnham was elected in a landslide

So was Starmer and look what happened to him, why should Burnham fare any better.

Raising taxes , failing to stop the boats, attacking pensioners, and the highest energy bills in the world did not work so well for Starmer,

Continuing the same actions whilst believing the end result will be different, isn't that a sign of incompetence? or is it insanity

The honeymoon period for the Thunderbirds puppet lookalike is already over

FAB thunderbirds are go !

Edited July 18Jul 18 by Bday Prang

I was under the impression only a member of the house of lords or an MP elected in a general election can be PM in the UK. (have they changed the rules?)

Burnham can be leader of the Labour Party, but not PM ......

Unless you know different?

There is not even a legal requirement that the PM be either an elected MP or a member of the House of Lords

There is absolutely no requirement that the PM be elected in a general election.

The rules have not been changed.

So was Starmer and look what happened to him, why should Burnham fare any better.

Raising taxes , failing to stop the boats, attacking pensioners, and the highest energy bills in the world did not work so well for Starmer,

Continuing the same actions whilst believing the end result will be different, isn't that a sign of incompetence? or is it insanity

The honeymoon period for the Thunderbirds puppet lookalike is already over

FAB thunderbirds are go !

I would agree that the rightwing media is not giving Burnham any period of grace.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such breathless attempts to scupper a PM before they’ve even taken office.

3 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

There is not even a legal requirement that the PM be either an elected MP or a member of the House of Lords

There is absolutely no requirement that the PM be elected in a general election.

The rules have not been changed.

Political hypocrisy:

In opposition, Labour treated internal party leadership changes leading to a new PM as lacking a "mandate" and grounds for an immediate election.

Now in government, they defend the exact same process for Burnham succeeding Starmer as perfectly constitutional and normal — no need for a general election.

The big things will mean potholes' after he finds out how much two queer has spaffed away on mosque security and alike.

4 minutes ago, FinChin67 said:

Political hypocrisy:

In opposition, Labour treated internal party leadership changes leading to a new PM as lacking a "mandate" and grounds for an immediate election.

Now in government, they defend the exact same process for Burnham succeeding Starmer as perfectly constitutional and normal — no need for a general election.

Or so you say.

Perhaps ‘politics’ is a better way to sum it up.

Regardless, the point I made is correct.

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

What are you on about.

Burnham was elected in a landslide.

So was two queer' and look where that spanner has gone.

14 minutes ago, Tidal wave said:

So was two queer' and look where that spanner has gone.

I’m sure there’s a rational explanation for your ‘queer’ fixation.

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I would agree that the rightwing media is not giving Burnham any period of grace.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such breathless attempts to scupper a PM before they’ve even taken office.1

"Rightwing media" says it all...

Burnham pushes for greater public control of water, energy, and rail to cut bills and end privatisation failures like a good communist.
He promises the biggest council house building programme "since the post-war period" and restricting Right to Buy .. so "immigrants" get more free housing. As Mayor with police oversight his Greater Manchester faced ongoing criticism over knife crime, grooming gangs scandals (historical handling), and overall police performance.

Trackrecord and hiring a former director at the far-left organization Hope Not Hate to be his Director of Political Strategy tells me everything I need to know. Will be far worse than Starmer.

I like the way Burnham is keeping the media at arm's length, Times Radio and Talk radio plus the Sky rabble are going nuts..... all they can do is guess, speculate and slag him off...

Where is he going to get the money to nationalize the critical infrastructure that was privatized in the 80's?

The UK government would be buying it at way more than what they sold it for, then, there is the ongoing cost of government inefficiency with everything government touches.

Looks likes flying pigs to me.

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I would agree that the rightwing media is not giving Burnham any period of grace.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such breathless attempts to scupper a PM before they’ve even taken office.

I am surprised that you expected anything different from GB News, (Britain's most popular news channel and for good reason,) I'm even more surprised that you watch it , Is it Lee Anderson's "yes or no " Quiz that attracts you , or the whinging sanctimonious leftists like "benjamin butterworth" that they are required , by ofcom, to give airtime to.

33 minutes ago, Pasak110 said:

I like the way Burnham is keeping the media at arm's length, Times Radio and Talk radio plus the Sky rabble are going nuts..... all they can do is guess, speculate and slag him off...

That's what politicians do when they have not got a clue what to say expect a lot more of this from Burnham except for when his scriptwriters have tossed up a meaningless word salad occasionally

57 minutes ago, Pasak110 said:

I like the way Burnham is keeping the media at arm's length, Times Radio and Talk radio plus the Sky rabble are going nuts..... all they can do is guess, speculate and slag him off...

The media are rightly going nuts. No-one should be given such power without even a small understanding of what they plan to do with it. The UK is now a poor country paying for its services by borrowing more and more money, and even mild socialism needs a ton of other peoples money to make it appear to work for a small period of time before a country bankrupts itself.

Unlike a monarchy, democracy is not and should not be a system that relies on speculation about what a coronated leader plans to do with their power.

1 hour ago, FinChin67 said:

"Rightwing media" says it all...

Burnham pushes for greater public control of water, energy, and rail to cut bills and end privatisation failures like a good communist.
He promises the biggest council house building programme "since the post-war period" and restricting Right to Buy .. so "immigrants" get more free housing. As Mayor with police oversight his Greater Manchester faced ongoing criticism over knife crime, grooming gangs scandals (historical handling), and overall police performance.

Trackrecord and hiring a former director at the far-left organization Hope Not Hate to be his Director of Political Strategy tells me everything I need to know. Will be far worse than Starmer.

Public ownership of utilities and infrastructure is hugely popular with voters as is building social housing, refer Labour Party Manifesto and result of the last election.

1 hour ago, KhunHeineken said:

Where is he going to get the money to nationalize the critical infrastructure that was privatized in the 80's?

The UK government would be buying it at way more than what they sold it for, then, there is the ongoing cost of government inefficiency with everything government touches.

Looks likes flying pigs to me.

Most of it is failing in private ownership.

Simply not renewing licenses brings these publicly funded infrastructure back into public ownership where they belong.

1 hour ago, Bday Prang said:

I am surprised that you expected anything different from GB News, (Britain's most popular news channel and for good reason,) I'm even more surprised that you watch it , Is it Lee Anderson's "yes or no " Quiz that attracts you , or the whinging sanctimonious leftists like "benjamin butterworth" that they are required , by ofcom, to give airtime to.

Who said I expect Ted anything different t from GB News.

“Overall, we rate GB News Right Biased and Questionable based on a lack of transparency with ownership and funding, numerous failed fact checks, and the promotion of conspiracy theories and pseudoscience.”

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/gb-news-uk-bias/#google_vignette

8 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Public ownership of utilities and infrastructure is hugely popular with voters as is building social housing, refer Labour Party Manifesto and result of the last election.

Right. Because socialist DEI governments are renowned for efficiency and getting things done properly, on time and keeping costs down.

And someone remind me why the left, who were spitting feathers about a foreign politician styling himself as a king, now have knee pads on in front of this "King of the north". Standards fellas, standards😅

1 minute ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Right. Because socialist DEI governments are renowned for efficiency and getting things done properly, on time and keeping costs down.

And someone remind me why the left, who were spitting feathers about a foreign politician styling himself as a king, now have knee pads on in front of this "King of the north". Standards fellas, standards😅

No because public ownership of utilities has failed and have certainly not kept costs down.

And voters have noticed.

Inserting ‘DEI’ did not improve your ill informed nonsense.

9 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Who said I expect Ted anything different t from GB News.

Who mentioned "Ted" ? and if you were trying to imply a yorkshire accent, the "t" should actually come after the word "from" and be followed with an apostrophe as in

"who said I expected anything different from t' GB News" there sorted it for you

Best tek y'sen a deep breath and calm thi sen down before thrashing about on t' keyboard, you'll only break it

27 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

Who mentioned "Ted" ? and if you were trying to imply a yorkshire accent, the "t" should actually come after the word "from" and be followed with an apostrophe as in

"who said I expected anything different from t' GB News" there sorted it for you

Best tek y'sen a deep breath and calm thi sen down before thrashing about on t' keyboard, you'll only break it

Forgive me, it was a predictive text typo.

But thanks for your analysis.

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Most of it is failing in private ownership.

Simply not renewing licenses brings these publicly funded infrastructure back into public ownership where they belong.

I'm not British, but if it is anything like privatization in Australia, the critical infrastructure was floated on the stock market, at various percentage levels for different assets, so is owned by thousands of shareholders.

As you saying the government just seizes the asset from private ownership, with no compensation at fair market price, like something that would happen in China?

another cowboy. who dont have a clue

So no mention of the biggest thing that needs fixing ? Can't say I'm surprised, He has no intention of stopping the invasion, and no plans to deal with the illegal immigrants,

The biggest thing he has his eye on is the Tax increase he has planned , ensuring he can put more money into the pockets of illegal immigrants , the workshy and all the other scroungers.

Nobody should expect anything to improve , just look at the state of Manchester , if you wish to see what's coming, The city centre, home to thousands of filthy homeless. living in urine soaked tents or shop doorways awash with human waste , off their heads on "Spice" or Crack or whatever else they can get their filthy hands on, taking their drugs openly on the streets begging from and in many cases intimidating law abiding citizens going about their business while the police more often than not simply look on,taking little action , presumably as instructed

It's literally like a dystopian wasteland, and the guy who is responsible for it, "Andy" will now be "running" the country,

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I’m sure there’s a rational explanation for your ‘queer’ fixation.

Making personal attacks without any attempt to address the topic of discussion again🤔

2 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Making personal attacks without any attempt to address the topic of discussion again🤔

Debateclub resources

Odd thing to say in response to a post addressing another member’s fixation on other people’s sexuality.