Labour’s hard-left flank is already snarling once again over the thought of “punitive” welfare cuts after Burnham hinted he would trim the benefits bill yesterday. Déjà vu…
Bloomberg reports the likes of Kim Johnston and John McDonnell are squawking over the mere thought, with Johnston saying last night:
“If the new leadership believes it can revive the failed politics of welfare cuts instead of asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share, it will be repeating not only Keir Starmer’s mistakes but fourteen years of Tory austerity… If the first instinct of a new leadership is to target disabled people and low-income families rather than challenge the wealth and inequality at the top of society, then nothing has been learned.”
Burnham’s promise to handle Parliamentary whipping ‘differently’ is about to be tested, at least if he is serious about grasping the nettle. “You wouldn’t want to be the Chief Whip” said one Labour source…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”