Andy Burnham has been described as Labour’s ‘king over the water’ who could save us from the turgid decline of Starmer’s premiership, but there is another candidate for that position, and a more convincing one at that.
On the website of his eponymous institute, Tony Blair has published a long essay which reminds us of the fact that between 1997 and 2007 we had the novelty of a Labour government which didn’t destroy the economy.
Virtually alone among Labour figures at the moment he seems to understand that the economy is being brought low by high taxes and a welfare system which is draining life from the rest of the economy
Britain would be in a vastly different place now if Blair were PM. Virtually alone among Labour figures at the moment he seems to understand that the economy is being brought low by high taxes and a welfare system which is draining life from the rest of the economy. He correctly argues that the fundamental problem is a lack of economic growth. If you want generous social programmes first you need economic growth to pay for them. Instead, the current government seems determined to sink back into the left-wing comfort zone of punishing the businesses which could help deliver it.
