“Feeling hopeful again”: Responses to Andy Burnham’s Conference speech

As predicted, Andy Burnham’s speech to the Labour Party Conference yesterday was full of content, with the proposed National Care Service getting most of the headlines. But the Prime Minister also said he would not rest until there was no homelessness,  promising council homes and democratic control of the housing stock. He called water a symbol of what has gone wrong with Britain and pledged legislation to scrap the Thatcher-era ban on public ownership of water companies. He announced a new government body to invest in Britain’s electricity grid and he called for a new relationship with the EU, ruling nothing out.

Momentum hailed Burnham’s “bold and exciting vison” and warmly welcomed “his pledges to bring essential services back into public ownership, build council homes, create a National Care Service free at the point of use, end homelessness and put power back into the hands of working-class people.”

But they added: “We need a cheaper, fairer and cleaner alternative to our water system. 99% of Labour Conference delegates agree! If Burnham’s Government is serious about undoing 40 years of neoliberalism, it would commit to public ownership.”

Labour’s former Director of Policy under Jeremy Corbyn ‘s leadership, Andrew Fisher, said Burnham’s address was the “best speech by a Labour Prime Minister in my lifetime – in terms of policy, rhetoric and delivery.” The government-backed grid plan, he said, was “a really positive step.”

Politics Professor Jeremy Gilbert was also upbeat, saying: “Burnham gave the speech that I’d been calling for nearly a decade.”

One of the central planks of Burnham’s address was his commitment to a universal care service. The initiative was welcomed by the Women’s Budget Group, whose Executive Director,  Dr Daniella Jenkins, said: “This ambition must be matched by a credible long-term funding plan. That is why the Women’s Budget Group has put forward CarePool, a social insurance-backed model designed to provide a sustainable funding settlement for a National Care Service which would cover 83% of people’s care needs. Our model combines a dedicated social care levy on income with inheritance tax receipts, limits on excessive private equity profits in care, and existing local authority spending.

“Crucially, it is designed to help protect social care funding from the ebb and flow of short-term political cycles, giving the service the stability it needs to deliver for the long term. Care needs are rising and will continue to do so as our population is aging. It’s time for social care to become a settled part of how the UK budgets, because investing in care is not optional.”

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham also welcomed the announcement of a National Care Service, but said that ending the triple lock on pensions was the wrong way to pay for it, arguing instead that the super-rich should be taxed more.

Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP also expressed concern at this part of Burnham’s speech, pointing out: “Thatcher broke the link between earnings and pensions, forcing millions of pensioners to live in poverty for decades to come. The triple lock helped reverse some of the damage. With 2 million pensioners still in poverty, no Labour government would go near scrapping it and risk next election.”

In response to the proposal that the link to year on year earnings could be replaced by a link to “earnings over time,” he added: “There needs to be absolute honesty about what this means as breaking the link with earnings will cut pensions growth.”

Lord Prem Sikka agreed, saying the “full state pension is already less than 50% of the minimum wage. Poverty awaits future retirees.”

Andrew Fisher also defended the triple lock, saying: “It’s affordable, justifiable, and there are much better targets for saving money (even on pensions) than modifying the triple lock.”

John McDonnell MP also called for more immediate action: “The triple lock proposal is for after the next election but investment in home/personal care is needed now and not just for pensioners. So let’s have this discussion about the triple lock whilst also urging action in the forthcoming budget to bolster the funds of local authorities to provide home/personal care now.”

Trade union leaders lined up to praise Burnham’s speech. Matt Wrack, General Secretary of the teachers’ union NASUWT, welcomed in particular the pledge to invest in children’s services and improve access to mental health support. But he added: “Teachers will welcome these commitments but they need to be backed up with action. The test now for the Labour Government, the test upon which they will be judged by the British public, is how quickly they deliver real and meaningful change.”

National Education Union General Secretary Daniel Kebede took a similar tone: “The Prime Minister’s call for a comprehensive education system, with parity between the academic and the technical, is welcome. But to deliver it will necessitate a new assessment and accountability system. It will require an end to the ideology that pits schools in competition against each other. It demands an end to the lack of democratic oversight of academies, and an end to the profiteering and excessive CEO pay. Above all else, schools need a cash injection to end 16 years of real terms cuts that has left 74 per cent of schools worse off in real terms than in 2010.”

Proportional Representation, here we come?

The left of centre group Compass, meanwhile, were thrilled with Burnham’s commitment to establish a National Commission for Electoral Reform. Director Neal Lawson said: “In the oldest Parliament on earth and fifth-largest national economy in the world, we have a Prime Minister who has openly called for the way power operates to change.”

Laura Parker from Labour for a New Democracy agreed: “This is fantastic news – and decisive leadership from a Prime Minister who understands we need to rebuild trust in democracy.”

Non-Labour supporters were also upbeat. Owen Jones tweeted: “With Andy Burnham’s speech, the left has unequivocally won the argument – on the rhetoric, at least. The substance is rather more complicated.”

Owen Jones is right: the left’s ideas are now dominating the political agenda. It’s an opportunity for it to break out of its isolation. Here’s John McDonnell again: “Andy Burnham’s speech yesterday was great and much welcomed because it addressed much of the agenda set by the left over recent years. The role of the left now will be to engage constructively in discussions over how and how far this agenda will be delivered and how much more is needed.”

Momentum agreed, tweeting: “From organising to making sure our voice is heard, we can leave Liverpool feeling hopeful again. We’ll campaign to turn Burnham’s ambition into reality and deliver the change Britain needs.”

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andy_Burnham_on_13_August_2024_%28cropped_2%29.jpg Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/26320652@N02/53921141434/ Author: Scottish Government, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.