Britain is no longer a serious country. The Burnham coup is no laughing matter.
Even in his moment of despair, Sir Keir Starmer may reflect on the irony. In the middle of a World Cup, the diehard Arsenal fan has been sacked, just like a football manager mid-season. The difference, of course, is that Starmer is a sitting Prime Minister, elected two years ago with a thumping 170-plus majority.
His successor-in-waiting, who is set to be the seventh prime minister in a decade, is the former mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, the self-crowned King of the North. Burnham is an Everton fan, a Toffee in more ways than one. Infinitely malleable, a crowd-pleaser rather than a lion-tamer.
Today, the man branded as common Andy finds himself within a whisker of power after an internal Labour party coup masquerading as “an orderly transition”. He is expected to walk into Downing Street within weeks with barely an audition, let alone a well-developed programme for government. In the meantime, Whitehall and the rest of the world will be put on hold.
Britain used to be a serious country. We looked down on Italy as the epitome of political instability. Now the roles have reversed. Georgia Meloni, well into her fourth year as prime minister, dares to put two fingers up to Donald Trump, while skittish Britain flatters to deceive. As General Sir Nick Carter, former head of the Armed Forces, noted: the UK risks becoming “Belgium with nuclear missiles”.
