Andy Burnham vowed to end rough sleeping in Britain as he pledged to bring “care” back into politics. The new Prime Minister described his arrival as a “circuit breaker for Britain” as he greeted his supporters in Downing Street. “I want to be honest with you: we have not been good enough and we need to be better,” he told those gathered and everyone around the country drumming their fingers for real change.
Burnham pledged a 10-year plan for Britain to be delivered later in the year, but said he would set out some policy plans as soon as Tuesday to give voters “some breathing space” with the cost of living.
Burnham wants the public to believe he’s a normal bloke at No 10 and the trappings of office won’t change him. Your priorities are his priorities. The banquets, international summits, fame, power, and procedure will not sway him. He will be straightforward in the face of Westminster’s cynicism. He will help the rough sleepers, as he has in Manchester.
The short version is: I’m not Keir Starmer. Starmer did not listen to his party or the country, Burnham implied. Where Starmer jetted around the world, Burnham will remain a normal bloke in a T-shirt (except when seeing the King, when a suit is only polite). He will spend a lot of time in Manchester and continue to sit in the same seat for Everton home games, which Starmer did not manage at the Emirates for security reasons. Symbolically, he did not have a lectern between him and the public when he entered No 10 for the first time as Prime Minister.
