Despite Burnham promising to respond to Blair tomorrow he has spoken to the Observer on the campaign trail about the former PM’s criticisms:
- On inequality: “He doesn’t mention inequality once. If you don’t get how that’s driving politics now, if you are not rooting your analysis in the fact that people are unable to live and that things that were taken for granted are no longer affordable, then you are not understanding what’s going on.”
- On neoliberalism and the centre: Blair “criticises my phrase about 40 years of neoliberalism but the last 40 years has given us wide inequality – that’s what’s responsible for the abandonment of the centre. People don’t think the centre has delivered for them in terms of their lives, therefore they’ve gone further to the extremes.”
- On the private sector and public services: “Tony seems to argue that the private sector has all-encompassing reach into everything, and when it comes to essential services the evidence is pretty clear it isn’t the fix.”
- On the market as the answer: “Blairism sometimes saw the market as always the answer. That’s its problem.”
- On universities: “The prioritisation of universities is a significant part of the problem that has left out too many people and has impacted on the welfare system.”
Hotting up…
