(Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
ANDY BURNHAM made a powerful, passionate and emotional debut speech as Labour leader at the party conference.
His critics make him out to be a nice man who won’t be able to make difficult decisions – but he made a huge call in apparently ditching the triple lock which sets the high rate at which pensions rise.
Look what happened to the last government which risked pensioners’ ire by cutting their winter fuel payments…
Only the hardest heart would try to belittle Mr Burnham’s genuine emotion when discussing his recently deceased father who had struggled with Alzheimer’s, and only the most hardened nationalist will think he will help them break up the United Kingdom – his defence of Great Britain was as strong as any party leader this century.
It was a brave speech, partly because he didn’t touch much on immigration. It was as if he were leaving that to the right-wing parties as he believes that there are more people on the centre left who will see his plans for state-controlled water, power and housing as the most pressing issues facing the country.
It was a brave speech because so much of it was about the distant future. Pensions won’t stop rising so fast until 2030 when he will begin to set up his national care system. The election after next – probably 2034 – might be decided by a form of proportional representation. And his new GB Grid company is tasked with bringing energy prices down to European levels within 10 years – that’ll be 2036.
But what about the here and now? What about today’s record diesel prices? What about our need to increase defence spending almost immediately?
In the last decade, Britain has burned through a prime minister once every 1.4 years.
It is great that Mr Burnham can think long term and envision a desperately needed care system, but as soon as his speech finished, many people went back to worrying about today’s cost of living crisis.