No excuses for a lack of plan as Andy Burnham is coronated Prime Minister
It has been a long road to 10 Downing Street for Andy Burnham. After multiple failed attempts, the former Mayor of Greater Manchester will become the next Prime Minister today.
The incoming PM will face a huge challenge from the first day on. Everything from national security to the welfare state needs to be addressed. At the top of the list of his most immediate priorities is the cost of living crisis that so many families are having to contend with.
Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell said Burnham’s government will be “laser focused on the cost of living, laser focused on rewiring the economy, rewiring the political system in this country”.
The incoming PM’s team has indicated that it will scrap plans for digital ID introduced by Sir Keir Starmer, which could cost £1.8bn over three years. It is loose change compared to what Burnham’s government needs to find to tackle the mounting challenges that Britain faces.
Burnham has arguably already made the first big mistake of his time as leader of the Labour party. Allowing a briefing war to dominate the weekend after promising to put an end to in-fighting.
This stems from a lack of clarity as to what Burnham’s plan is going to be when he is appointed Prime Minister. The so-called ‘King of the North’ has been high on rhetoric but coy on policy.
There have been mixed messages on approval of further oil and gas drilling in the North Sea over the weekend. And speculation has been running rampant as to the make-up of Burnham’s Cabinet with the incoming PM saying he hadn’t finalised his Cabinet on Friday.
Burnham can have no excuses for not being prepared for government. He and his team have had long enough to prepare, just as Starmer had plenty of time to put together a plan for government.