There is an encouraging historical precedent for Andy Burnham, and it may weigh in his calculations around an early election: the Charge of the Light Brigade.
The survival rate in that legendary 1854 action was higher than we think. Out of 650-odd troopers galloping towards the Russian guns, around 500 lived another day.
“They say Chancellors are either undertakers or bookies. This one is an ostrich – and when the Chancellor buries his head in the sand, the rest of us, we’re left staring at his you know what.”
