Why Andy Burnham Looks Surprisingly Right-Wing (so far)

A Blairite, a Brownite and a Corbanite walk into a bar.The barman says, what'll you have Andy?Well, not particularly funny.This joke has done the rounds in Whitehall circles for a number of years, with those telling it attempting to highlight Burnham's seemingly inconsistent ideological positioning.As Prime Minister, there seems to be an assumption that Burnham will govern as a left winger.Already, he's spoken about Britain taking some wrong turns in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher.

He's introduced new cost of living support and he's pledged to end rough sleeping.However, there is also evidence of Burnham actually moving to the right somewhat, with key government positions being occupied by those on the right of the Labour Party, and suggestions that Burnham could cut government spending in certain places, for instance on welfare.So in this video, we're going to have a look into this, exactly what Burnham has done that suggests he's moving right, and whether it's fair to characterise Andy Burnham as a leader that is pivoting to the right.

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For weeks, there had been frenzied speculation about exactly what positions certain politicians would be given, notably allies such as Ed Miliband and Lisa Nandy.However, one of the most spoken about potential cabinet members was Shabana Mahmood, someone particularly controversial in Labour circles as a result of her immigration reforms.As Home Secretary under Keir Starmer, Mahmood introduced the Asylum and Immigration Bill, which will increase the forced removal of people refused asylum, tightens definitions under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, or ECHR, to limit its use in asylum cases, and creates a new Tribunal for Immigration and Human Rights Appeals, which will be used before cases are sent to judges.Mahmood has also pushed forward new tribunalsto indefinite leave to remain, suggesting that the time taken to qualify should increase from 5 to 10 years.This was not included in the Asylum and Immigration Bill, however, and will instead likely be changed via secondary legislation.

In addition to these changes, Mahmood further frustrated those on the left of the party for her suggestion, again, back when she was Home Secretary under Starmer, that AI could play more of a role in combating crime.Mahmood announced in January that the government plans to increase the number of facial recognition bands from 10 to 50, and in an interview with Tony Blair, explained that she wanted to achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with the Panopticon.For obvious reasons, these proposed changes frustrated those on the left, who didn't want to see Mahmood anywhere near Burnham's new government.Despite this, there was some speculation that Mahmood could potentially be given one of the great offices of state, potentially even the role of Chancellor.In the end, Mahmood was reappointed to her role of Home Secretary.This was the first sign that Burnham's government was moving to the right.

The other signs came largely from his statements on policy.One of the big rebellions that severely damaged Keir Starmer's authority were his plans to cut the UK's welfare bill.Keir Starmer had originally planned to narrow the eligibility for Personal Independence Payments, or PIP, and to introduce restrictions on universal credit.However, facing a major backbench rebellion orchestrated by those on the left of the party, he was forced to back down on these changes.Burnham, though, seems keen to succeed where Starmer has failed, with him reportedly plotting to crack down on youth sickness benefits in order to pay for social care and defence.While we don't yet know exactly how this crackdown will work, it's notable that at the very same time he's discussing this, Burnham is also announcing an extra £8 .4 billion in investment for Britain's nuclear deterrent.

Promising to cut welfare by increasing defence spending certainly isn't the sort of move that those on the left of Labour were likely wanting him to make.On economic policy, there have been rumours since he took office that Burnham may be plottingto radically change how the tax system works.There have been rumours that he may be considering introducing changes to the way that council tax and stamp duty works, with some outlets suggesting that he may introduce a 0 .48 % annual charge on the value of a property, or maybe something simpler like an increase in the tax -free personal allowance, the threshold of which has been frozen since 2021.However, already Burnham has started to pour cold water on these ideas.Downing Street explicitly stated that rumours about council tax and stamp duty were not true and pure speculation.

On the tax -free allowance, Burnham suggested that he isn't making an immediate commitment, but pointed out that it could be reviewed at the budget.Again, this demonstrates that, perhaps, Burnham isn't going to be as radical as some of those on the left may have thought.On the big changes, reviewing the way that council tax and stamp duty work, and potentially bringing in the type of land value tax, which he had previously spoken out in favour of, Burnham has been clear that they're not being considered.It's only the smaller, more incremental changes that he appears willing to legislate.So there are a number of ways that we can see that Andy Burnham is moving, potentially, to the right.However, Burnham is something of a complex political figure.

He can't simply be characterised by someone moving Labour to the right, because in many other ways, he's also pivoted to the left.Already, Burnham has committed more than £10 billion in extra government spending.He's outlined new cost of living support, he's capped bus fares, and he's already earmarked an extra £340 million of government support over the next three years to help reduce rough sleeping.On top of this, he's established Number 10 North, a symbolic and practical way of trying to move power out of Westminster and make the country fairer to those living in the regions.Burnham has claimed that this will have three purposes.To increase public control of essential utilities such as water, energy and housing.

To re -industrialise swathes of the country.And to regenerate towns, prioritising places that have been left behind.All of these things point to a Prime Minister that is trying to be more radical and more amenable to parts of the country.of the Labour Party.Perhaps then, Burnham is doing what a lot of Prime Ministers have realised they have to do when they take office.He's not governing in a purely ideological way, but in a more pragmatic one, and one that takes into account the views of more than one faction of the party.

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