Andy Burnham’s speech to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool was passionate, eloquent, well-delivered and full of bold policy ideas. It could also mark a turning point in the story of Brexit.
A moment of truth
As a performance, Andy Burnham’s conference speech was almost flawless and his emotional grip on the audience in the hall was such that even when he fell silent halfway through, apparently unable to continue, they rose to applaud him. That unusually long pause, as he choked up at the memory of his recently deceased father, came just before a fiery passage celebrating Britain’s role as a birthplace of trade unions and the National Health Service and as a country that stood up to fascism.
There was a lot of nostalgia in the speech, mostly for the postwar settlement that enabled working class people like Burnham to live in safe homes, access free healthcare, go to university and flourish as adults.
“Ours is the same story of so many families, British families of my generation. A story of working-class aspiration. A desire to get on and give back, never pulling up the ladder. And a postwar Britain that backed them to do it,” he said.
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In Burnham’s telling, the country has gone in the wrong direction since that settlement was abandoned more than 40 years ago.
“Something is different these days. That sense of the powers-that-be pulling against the people not with them. If there’s one thing I want to put right, it’s that,” he said.
This articulates the sentiment that alienated generations of working class people in Britain, driving millions to vote to leave the European Union in 2016. But Burnham’s diagnosis of the problem is different from those who advocated Brexit and part of his remedy lies in reversing that decision, at least in part.
He said he will use a summit with the EU to lay out different options for Britain’s long-term relationship with Europe and he will then try to find a consensus around one of them. His team briefed reporters later that all options will be considered, including membership of the single market and the customs union and even rejoining the EU as a full member.
Any bespoke option faces the same problems identified during the Brexit negotiations, notably the fact that EU member states will be unwilling to give Britain the benefits of membership without its obligations. And Britain may be too big an economy to accept the role of a rule-taker without having a voice at the table that sets regulations which could, for example, set limits on the activity of financial services in the City of London.
Still, Burnham’s readiness to rip up Keir Starmer’s red lines on Europe and consider all the options is an important moment in Britain’s effort to deal with the consequences of Brexit. But his vision of a society and a state that prioritises caring for people, particularly the most vulnerable, is also part of the process of addressing the condition that gave rise to Brexit, one which leaving the EU served to exacerbate.
It was notable that Burnham made only a passing reference to Nato, defence spending and the war in Ukraine during his speech, although he also mentioned his government’s new policy in support of Palestine. This focus on domestic policy, eschewing the vainglorious bluster of his predecessors about Britain’s role as a military power, better reflects the country’s needs.
“You don’t make Britain safer by leaving a younger generation without hope stuck at home looking at screens. You do it by giving young people hope again. And you do it by getting our economy growing strongly again,” he said.
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