Keir Starmer is having a pretty good Labour conference so far. His decision to kick off the annual meet with a rendition of ‘God Save the King’ went off without hitch. There are few tricky motions or crunch votes heading to the conference floor. A new ComRes poll says the party is on course to win a majority of 56 in the next election. Yet there is still an internal row brewing: how should Labour fight the Tories?
Labour’s prince across the water in Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has been touring the studios and fringe events to share his thoughts on exactly this. In an ‘in conversation’ with the Guardian’s Katharine Viner, the metro mayor said Labour were now ‘odds on to be the next government’ – whether in one or two years’ time: ‘the pendulum’s going to swing in our direction’. He said this was why at this ‘get ready for government’ conference, ‘there has to be more of a sense of urgency now’.
While Burnham was quick to praise Keir Starmer for getting the party to this point, he also expressed a desire for the party to go further when it comes to setting out an alternative vision to Liz Truss’s government following her tax cutting bonanza on Friday. Burnham described the measures Kwasi Kwarteng announced as ‘a catastrophic political misjudgement’ by the Tories. As for what Labour ought to do: ‘We need to get a bit more on the front foot and say we are going to fight this. Where is the fight?’ Burnham quoted Billy Bragg: ‘Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone?’ – arguing it must be Labour.
Burnham said Starmer was right to say that a Labour government would bring back the 45p top tax rate. However, he says he took issue with Starmer’s suggestion that Labour would keep the cut to the basic rate of income tax to 19p – saying it should be raised as it benefits higher earners. There are other policy changes Burnham would like to see – including the re nationalisation of railways (a ‘no brainer’). He would support a change to the voting system from first past the post to proportional representation and put it in the Labour manifesto – despite Starmer ruling against.
Burnham insisted he was here to ‘help’ Starmer but it’s clear were the former leadership hopeful in charge, there would be a more aggressive coming from the party. He also appeared to express a frustration that is shared privately by members of the shadow cabinet: a lack of boldness on policy. The metro mayor – who formerly served as an MP in the Commons – said in order to move from being the party odds-on to win to the next election to the party that wins it, there needs to be a clearer sense of what they would do if in government: ‘It’s the question of this conference. What would you do?’ Burnham said Labour oppositions have not often won ‘by default’ so more had to be done in giving the public reasons to vote for the party rather than against the Tories: ‘We’ve done half the job – we have got rid of some of the negative feelings and have a sustained poll lead’.
It’s the second half – setting out what exactly Labour would do in power – that could be the most contentious yet.
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