Is Andy Burnham just Keir Starmer with TikTok?
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How does Andy Burnham compare to Keir Starmer in style and policy?
This is a global production.
This is a periscope moment where you look around the corner and say, what is actually about to come at us? How does he stop just being Starmer Mark II? How are you going
to balance the books in this context without massively raising taxes or massively cutting public expenditure?
He failed to take the action that he knew he should have done on the welfare bill because he was too worried about a rebellion by his own backbenchers. Helping people fight a war is bloody expensive. Things get even worse for Burnham as a result of him doing absolutely nothing at all in the Middle East.
We have the highest growth in the G7. Tick. But we also have the highest borrowing costs in the G7
cross. It is going to be challenging because the picture around the world is challenging, and particularly the situation in the Middle East. And we will look carefully at all of those things. We won't take risks with people's living standards or with the economy as a whole. So we will take it all into account. It's why we wanted to do an earlier budget. That is Andy Burnham
on the political outlook. For all the optimism and sunniness, this is a bleak picture going ahead of the budget. He's been called a traditional tax and spender with better
TikTok. So what does he have to do to make this work? Expend some political capital? Cut the triple lock? Rejoin the EU? How does he stop just being Starmer Mark II? Welcome to The News Agents.
The News Agents
It's John. It's Maitlis. And Andy Burnham has done a brilliant job since becoming prime minister of trying to project this sense of kind of optimism, hope that things can get better, that he can make a difference. It's the small things that will improve people's lives. But when you zoom out and look at the big picture of what is facing the British economy today, and the headwinds that they are facing, you realise that it's all pretty difficult. I mean, the cost of energy, what's going on in the Middle East, and we'll come back to that. Again, our energy costs are higher than anyone else's. Our borrowing costs are higher than anyone else's. We've just had the inflation figures which show that there's going to be, because of the triple lock, a huge amount extra going to be spent on pensions.
And how are you going to balance the books in this context without either massively raising taxes or massively cutting public expenditure at a time when, you know, the pledges, we're going to increase defence spending and all the rest of it?
Yeah, I think it's worth saying that we are all, I mean, genuinely, we are all massively invested in this working. So this is not a sort of, oh, well, you know, got rid of the last one. The media got rid of the last one. Now you're attacking the next one. What's going on here? It's more a point of taking stock and saying he's had this incredibly successful start now. Things have gone pretty well, pretty much since the day of the Makefield by-election. He's got off on the right foot. He's made sort of tweaks that have created good vibes. He's definitely got himself out there. And his polling suggests that he's actually pretty popular. He's got a bounce for Labour. on around 15%.
What are the fiscal challenges Burnham faces without raising taxes or cutting spending?
Some of the poll pollsters sort of don't quite agree with where he is, but let's say roughly for 15, 16%. So he's doing fine, but this is a periscope moment where you look around the corner and say, What is actually about to come at us? We've talked before on this podcast about the bond yields and what that does to every penny that we borrow, how much it is actually costing now. We've talked about the Iran war. We've talked about the fact that John Healey, who left the his last job because he felt that he couldn't keep the country safe as Defence Secretary because the spending wasn't there. And now as Chancellor is kind of rethinking exactly what we might be able to spend on defence as a country. So that's tricky enough as it is.
But I think there are suggestions now, and they are suggestions not from arch enemies, but from people who are genuinely supportive of Burnham, that he has to start sending out quite big signals that something is
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
How does Andy Burnham compare to Keir Starmer in style and policy?
0:02–3:33
2
What are the fiscal challenges Burnham faces without raising taxes or cutting spending?
3:33–11:44
3
How is the Red Sea Houthi conflict affecting the UK economy and energy prices?
11:44–20:53
4
What political capital does Burnham need to spend to deliver his budget?
20:53–24:57
5
How could the upcoming Holborn and St Pancras by‑election reshape the Muslim vote?
24:57–28:57
6
What impact could George Galloway’s candidacy have on the Green Party’s chances?
28:57–33:43
7
Why are multilingual campaign materials seen as divisive by the hosts?
33:43–33:49