Andy Burnham has said he can deliver on his promise of radical change for the country despite severe economic headwinds, telling the Guardian: “There’s always things you can do, it’s just whether you’re prepared to do them.”
The prime minister acknowledged the public finances were “challenging” ahead of next month’s budget but said that delivering fiscal stability would be “crucial”, because only then would the government be able to focus on fixing bigger problems.
A series of global economic shocks, including the Iran conflict, have put the UK economy under intense inflationary pressure and pushed up borrowing costs, leaving the government limited room for manoeuvre.
Ahead of his first Labour conference as prime minister, however, Burnham sought to both reassure voters he was willing to make tough decisions to deliver change, and to show the markets that he could ensure fiscal stability while preparing the groundwork for more substantial change ahead.
Speaking to the Guardian on the eve of his first conference as Labour leader, he said: “The public would have more respect for us if we go and grab something difficult … and say, ‘Right, we’re going to do something here’, rather than constantly playing the political game before fixing the problems.
“It’s challenging, definitely, but there are still things that you can do. Always in politics, there are things that you can do. The question is sometimes: Are you prepared to do them? Yeah, I am prepared to do them.”
When asked about the need for a large fiscal buffer against shocks, he said the key thing was stability, indicating that he understood the need to reassure the markets, but that more radical transformation of the state would follow.
“I do think it is crucial to have stability and to show that there’s a willingness to face up to the reality of some of these difficult things. But actually from that stability, the permission can come to make bigger change that, in the end, could put the country in a stronger position in relation to the public finances,” he said.
“You have to have stability, but you have to do what you can within that. You can’t pursue a major programme of change, which is what I believe the country needs, in a chaotic situation.”
After ruling out holding a snap general election before ۲۰۲۹, Burnham said that he wanted to set out a clear path for how the country could move to a better place – and that he hadn’t been spending his time “sitting politicking and strategising” but instead was focused on fixing problems.
His ambition to give people “a bit more belief that things can improve” across the country, he said, would not come from “endlessly running elections and referendums”.
He denied having had any discussions with his senior team about whether to call an early election. “The speculation in no way matches the internal discussion because there isn’t one,” he said, rejecting claims he did not have a mandate as the public had voted for the Labour party.
However, Burnham acknowledged he was hemmed in on tax and the fiscal rules of Keir Starmer’s manifesto commitments, and suggested he would have done it differently had he been in charge at the time.
“I’ve inherited those positions and, as I say, I think the main thing for me is to focus on the here and now for people, not to be self-serving about ‘oh, what would suit me?’ and playing politics. That’s not where my mind is, and possibly would have framed it different, but we are where we are, you know, and that’s the reality.”
Burnham played down speculation that Labour may give more support for energy bills, with the cap price set to soar from January. “I think people need to remember that measures have already been taken,” he said, referring to VAT on electricity bills being scrapped from next week.
The prime minister also reiterated that while he thought the welfare bill was too high, the will among Labour MPs was “not there for crude cuts” because they would push people into crisis, so a longer term approach to reform was required.
After warning of the risks, as well as the opportunities of artificial intelligence at the UN last week, Burnham admitted to concerns about rogue AI agents attacking state institutions in the UK, after the Australian medicare system was hit.
Burnham addressed the presence of far-right protesters on the streets of Britain, accusing Daniel Thomas, who has led black-clad anti-migrant vigilantes on the streets of some English towns, of “creating fear” but did not go as far as Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, who accused him of being an “outright racist”.
Speaking of Thomas’s masked gangs, he said: “I mean that’s not Britain. That’s not what we want to see in people’s communities. There’s legitimate concerns about issues, and then there is intimidation – and that is intimidation,” he said.
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The prime minister also addressed political funding, which has been in the spotlight since Reform UK received two record-breaking £۳۶m donations from cryptocurrency billionaires, saying that – contrary to reports – he would not rule out a domestic donations cap.
“You know I think we do need to continue to have a cross-party discussion about how do we uphold trust in politics? How do we do not give the impression that politics can be bought and that people are, if you like, unduly influenced?”
He was also open to looking at election spending limits, he said, which are now being examined by the Electoral Commission, adding that he has “real concerns” about crypto-fuelled politics.
An emotional Burnham revealed that the death of his father, Roy, last week had made him more determined to deliver. “I’m in this job for what I can do for people, not for what it can do for me … to make the changes that my dad, for instance, long pushed me to make,” he said.
“It’s been a hard thing, if I’m honest, coming into this position in the last three months when I also knew in my heart that I was starting this journey as my dad was ending his.
“Although that’s hard, and I’m not seeking sympathy in saying it, I say it because the coming together of those two things increases my determination to make a difference on the things that I’ve long said I want to fix.”
With political courage expected to be a focus of his speech to Labour’s conference in Liverpool, Burnham said he was willing to be honest with the public about what needed to happen, even if it was difficult to hear.
“I think the public want to see, number one, honesty about things. So not spin or putting things a certain way that’s self-serving. They want honesty, and then they want, I think, difficult but real decisions,” said Burnham.
“Not difficult decisions and making a fetish out of that, but actually grasping nettles and then moving things forward. I don’t think politics has been prepared to do that enough in recent times.”
Burnham criticised previous governments for failing to tackle difficult issues such as social care, housing supply and youth unemployment, saying longer term reform was needed because there were no “easy or quick wins”.
He revealed there would be a new help-to-buy scheme aimed at giving first-time buyers who cannot rely on the “bank of mum and dad” the keys to their own home. It will be funded by reallocating existing budgets, although it is unclear which ones, rather than through extra borrowing.
Burnham also said he wanted to deliver significant progress on social care reform – a manifesto commitment – before the next election. “Who is going to do something to actually make it real? I’m saying to you that I am going to address this directly.”
