Andy Burnham has made it clear that he doesn’t much like free markets. And they are making it equally clear that they don’t much like him, either. Our new PM has spent every day this week announcing a new initiative to bring down the cost of living. But it has all been spoiled by the galloping price of oil. His £2 bus fares might soon come in handy – for motorists who would not normally dream of taking the bus.
Yesterday, Brent Crude reached $100 (£75) a barrel, returning to the levels last seen in May. The ceasefire between Iran and the US, which had brought oil down to $70 (£53), is well and truly over. With Donald Trump promising the biggest strikes yet in his war with Iran, it is quite possible that oil will go on to breach the peak of $120 (£90) it reached in the spring.
When you have made your main pitch the cost of living, results matter
Burnham, needless to say, won’t see any of this as his fault, and of course it isn’t. He hasn’t been rattling sabres at Iran, and he has only been in the job for four days. But that will count for little if households reach the next election feeling no better off than they are now.
When you have made your main pitch the cost of living, results matter. Who in politics cuts their opponents a bit of slack when they can see they are victims of circumstances beyond their control? The Conservatives weren’t to blame for Covid, either, but that didn’t stop Labour mercilessly blaming them for every single piece of the economic fallout from the pandemic. By the same token, Burnham is going to find himself on the back foot if inflation – which fell unexpectedly low this week – starts to rebound.
