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Burnham’s ‘Hope Again’ conference: Labour is sleeping on a volcano

Burnham’s ‘Hope Again’ conference: Labour is sleeping on a volcano

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Labour politicians, the media, and the 'left' have all been lulled by Burnham's 'hopeful' vision. These people no idea how removed they are from the real mood in society. Events across the Channel paint a very different picture of where things are headed in Britain.

“I am told that there is no danger because there are no riots; I am told that, because there is no visible disorder on the surface of society, there is no revolution at hand. Gentlemen, permit me to say that I believe you are mistaken… I believe that we are at this moment sleeping on a volcano.”

With this desperate appeal made in January 1848, the French liberal Alexis de Tocqueville implored his fellow bourgeois parliamentarians to snap out of their stupor and see the explosive pressures building up in French society. Weeks later, the workers of Paris mounted the barricades and overthrew their government.

We cannot help but recall these prescient words after witnessing the spectacle of Andy Burnham’s Labour conference last week – carried out under the tagline “Hope Again”. These nauseating proceedings were a stark reminder of how out of touch the ‘political class’ – the MPs and apparatchiks; the journalists and commentators – is from the lives of ordinary people.

These servile sycophants are truly beside themselves with awe, stunned at the powerful oratory and shrewd political acumen of Mr. Burnham – the supposed saviour of Britain’s political establishment. The hagiographic tributes churned out by liberal rags like the Guardian wouldn’t look out of place in the Pyongyang Times or Stalin’s Pravda.

“By far and away the most powerful, emotional and game-changing leader’s speech of the century”, gushed one Guardian columnist. “I can’t tell you how rare it is for a politician to hold an audience in his hands for an hour and say exactly what he thinks, feels and believes…. It was as though the sun had come out.”

These ladies and gentlemen have no idea how removed they are from the real mood in British society – the hatred of Westminster politics, the distrust and resentment of anything that falls from the lips of suited scoundrels like Burnham.

They live in a dream-world. They, too, are sleeping on a volcano.

As good as it gets

For what it’s worth, we hope that Mr. Burnham appreciated his hour in the limelight. Because this is likely as good as it’s going to get for him and his government. The ‘Burnham bounce’ will soon meet the unswerving force of gravity.

Despite his alleged ‘northern charm’ and ‘bold promises’, the current prime minister will – inevitably – end up as unpopular and hated as his predecessor. In fact, he may well end up even more despised – because he has dared to raise people’s hopes and expectations that his government will do things differently.

If you want to get the real picture of how this ‘revamped’ Labour Party will govern, cast your eyes away from the flashy theatrics of The Andy Burnham Show, and focus on the more plain and plodding side act by Chancellor John Healey – the man who holds the purse strings:

“[Hope is] earned through fiscal discipline… The Prime Minister and I are in lockstep that we will meet the fiscal rules… We’ll bring fresh hope to Britain, built on the rock of fiscal discipline… On day one as Chancellor, I said my first duty is fiscal discipline… That’s why the Prime Minister and I are united in meeting the fiscal rules… And so, through the core of the Budget I deliver a month today will be [wait for it…] fiscal discipline.”

For those who aren’t well-versed in the dark arts of parliamentary innuendo, “fiscal discipline” means austerity: ‘balancing the books’ by slashing public services; tearing holes in the social safety nets that protect Britain’s most vulnerable; and maintaining the intolerable tax burden on working people.

And why must the nation maintain this ‘discipline’, while living standards plummet and the rich get richer? To reassure and please the ‘bond markets’, of course! Where else would we be without the ultra-rich parasites who bankroll the government, while bleeding the country dry?

Gone is much of Burnham’s bluster and bravado about not being ‘in hock to the bond markets’ and ‘ending 40 years of neoliberalism’. Such pronouncements risk angering the capitalist lenders that the state relies upon.

But in truth, even the capitalists aren’t satisfied with this new administration, although some are cautiously optimistic. Markets suspect this of being “a traditional tax-and-spend socialist government with better TikTok videos”, explains Andy Haldane, president of the British Chambers of Commerce. “This was socialism in plain sight”, complained the City A.M. financial newspaper.

In other words, even the mildest of reformist and interventionist measures proffered by Burnham are incompatible with the interests of Britain’s capitalists, who demand deregulation, lower taxes, and less public spending.

Austerity on the agenda

In all likelihood, Labour’s upcoming autumn budget will aim to pull off a delicate balancing act: providing some ‘breathing space’ for households, while reassuring the bosses and bankers; and buying some time for the government, by postponing some of the more difficult decisions to next year.

But Labour can hold the axe in the air for as long as it likes – or rather, for as long as it is able to. Eventually, it must fall. And when it does, the political ramifications will be severe.

In order to prettify this quite miserable offering for the next few years, Burnham chose to set out a vision for what his government will do if it is re-elected in a few years’ time – a very big ‘if’, indeed.

The ‘boldest’ measure the Prime Minister proposed was to fix the social-care crisis by creating a new National Care Service. The catch is that this service will be funded by… attacking pensions. This is a classic case of giving with one hand and taking with the other, while cynically pitting pensioners against taxpayers.

The fact that the ‘boldest’ economic measure that this government can offer is repackaged austerity – on the condition that Labour get re-elected in 2029 – speaks volumes.

Long gone are the days that British capitalism could offer meaningful reforms for ordinary people. This stagnant, sclerotic economy can only offer counter-reforms, attacks, and decline – no matter who occupies 10 Downing Street.

Leaning into lesser-evilism

It is precisely because of this economic paralysis that Labour ministers chose to throw up a ‘left-wing’ smokescreen at this year’s conference, over questions like Palestine and immigration.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, for example, dedicated a section of his speech to Israel and Palestine, declaring to Palestine activists that “we hear you, you were right”. The fact that dozens of pro-Palestine protestors were being arrested for supporting terrorism outside of the conference venue is by-the-by.

As we have explained elsewhere, Miliband’s so-called “reset” on Israel and Palestine is nothing but smoke and mirrors. Stern words and token sanctions can’t hide the fact that Labour’s “emphatic” support for the state of Israel remains unchanged.

The same can be said for the ever-so-slight shift in the policies put forward by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Only half a year ago, she was pandering to the right, by pledging to seize jewellery from asylum seekers, and attacking the rights and conditions of migrants and refugees.

But now, under pressure from her party, she has dropped or watered-down some of her previous proposals, and has instead announced the reopening of refugee settlement schemes. In her conference speech, meanwhile, she emphasised Britain’s tolerance, fairness, and openness towards migrants and refugees.

Along similar lines, Communities Secretary Angela Rayner said that far-right marches like those in Dover and Portsmouth should not be allowed. The Prime Minister himself even spoke about Britain being “a country that stood up to fascism. A country of solidarity not separation”.

Taken together with Burnham’s hints at rejoining the European Union, and talk about possible reforms to the electoral system, it’s as clear as day what the Labour leadership is setting out to do.

After a period of trying to ape the right’s rhetoric on immigration, patriotism, and law and order, the Labour leaders are attempting to change tack. They are trying to tap into the left-wing and ‘progressive’ sections of the electorate – in part, to win over those who might otherwise consider voting Green or Lib Dem.

In other words, they are consciously leaning into the idea promoted by the leaders of the trade union and anti-racist movements: that we should support Burnham as the ‘lesser evil’; that Labour can stop the rise of Reform and the far right.

It almost goes without saying that the current leaders of Britain’s so-called ‘left’ – perhaps the most short-sighted people to have ever lived – have fallen wholesale for Burnham’s trap, and are lapping up this nonsense (see below).

We cannot give an inch to these reactionary illusions. In reality, the austerity that will come with Burnham’s government only paves the way for Reform and the far right. The left must put up an independent class line against austerity and capitalism. This is the only way to seriously combat the far right and Reform.

Prepare for the eruption

While Labour politicians, the media, and the left are strung out on ‘hopium’ – lost in their reverie that growth, prosperity, and class peace is on the horizon – events across the English Channel paint a very different picture of where things are headed.

In France, hundreds of French schools blockaded by students; police clash with workers and youth on the streets; buildings are up in flames.

In Spain, a mass movement explodes out of nowhere against high rents and evictions; the political situation is transformed overnight; the paralysed Sánchez government calls snap elections.

In Germany, tens of thousands of school students march against conscription and militarism; the ruling CDU party faces electoral catastrophe, while the demagogic AfD scores victory after victory.

This is the future that awaits Burnham’s government, which is sleeping on a volcano of class rage and political polarisation. They are in for a rude awakening when the eruption begins.

We will not be lulled to sleep by reformist illusions. Our eyes are wide open to the reality before us. We – the revolutionary communists – are preparing for the explosive events which will plunge this government into an abyss.

With ‘lefts’ like these…

Mike Hogan, Liverpool

Disgracefully, parts of the so-called ‘left’ have joined with the establishment’s chorus of approval of Burnham’s Labour.

John McDonnell, Labour MP and shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, declared that “Andy Burnham’s speech yesterday was great and much welcomed because it addressed much of the agenda set by the left over recent years”.

McDonnell approvingly posted a Guardian article by journalist Owen Jones, self-congratulatingly titled ‘I heard one thing loud and clear in Andy Burnham’s landmark speech: the left has won the argument’.

Jones opines about Burnham’s left-wing rhetoric against austerity and neoliberalism, and his attacks on the five villains of “deindustrialisation, deregulation, privatisation, austerity, and Brexit”. Such fawning reveals how the left reformists obsess over words, labels, and ‘discourse’.

Jones delves further into his delusion when he claims that “most of the left’s worldview is embraced by Labour’s top brass”!

The pretence that the left has won the argument is undermined by its real weakness. The ‘Socialist Campaign Group’ within Labour has only 25 MPs out of 403 – and only 12 of them voted against declaring Palestine Action a terrorist organisation (and two actually voted for). One member, MP Rebecca Long-Bailey, even ‘jokingly’ remarked that they are considering disbanding the group, “since we got a lot of socialism in Andy’s speech”.

Confusingly, Jones admits that it wasn’t left-wing persuasion that led to Burnham unseating Starmer and promising some piecemeal reforms, but public anger and fear of Labour politicians losing their seats and careers.

Meanwhile, Momentum, an organisation set up to promote Jeremy Corbyn’s policies, hailed Burnham’s “bold and exciting vision” and warmly welcomed his pledge to “put power back into the hands of working-class people”.

Most egregiously, the Morning Star – the newspaper of the so-called ‘Communist’ Party of Britain – published wall-to-wall coverage of the Labour conference. Much of it was positive – although wrapped up in journalistic ‘objectivity’ and mild criticism – and emphasised how “mixed-message Burnham [drew] a line under Starmer” and that “Labour is moving left – but not far enough or fast enough”.

Shockingly, one interview with a ‘left’ Labour MP was headlined “The mood in Labour has changed. Rejoin and help us rebuild the left” – an appeal which received no pushback from the interviewer and editor.

Whatever the intentions of these so-called ‘lefts’, the truth must be plainly stated: whether with their fawning praise, or their cautious optimism, they are falling in line with the establishment; they are providing a left cover for the ruling party of British capitalism; and they are politically defrauding the working class.

Burnham’s bold vision for… More of the same

Jo Faithfull, Liverpool

After two years of doom and gloom, this year’s Labour Party conference was meant to represent a fresh start for the party. According to journalists and MPs, the ‘vibes’ are better than ever – but vibes don’t pay the bills and put food on the table.

Burnham’s big speech lacked any actual plans to improve the lives of workers at least until after the next election before 2029. Much of his speech seemed to be a teaser for what a Labour manifesto could look like… in three years’ time. Until then, we’ll be sticking to the deeply unpopular Starmer manifesto. Inspiring stuff!

Some of the exciting things that voters can look forward to in three years include a change to the electoral system towards proportional representation. In only a few short years, workers might be able to vote for austerity in red, blue, cyan, or orange – with the full knowledge that their vote counts!

Another promise was to bring Britain closer to the European Union, with even the potential of rejoining. Assuming the EU would even accept Britain, the working class can soon look forward to having closer ties with a stagnant imperialist bloc engulfed in political turmoil.

And of course, no prime ministerial speech can end without repledging Britain’s undying support for Ukraine, meaning even more billions will be sucked out of tax-payers’ pockets in order to prop up western imperialism and Zelensky’s corrupt regime.

Burnham bouncing
All of Burnham’s plans are either unworkable, or simply a rehash of the last government’s austerity agenda – with slightly nicer branding.

Burnham also made the point that he would not be carrying out the anticipated nationalisation of Thames Water. He did, however, say that he would scrap a “Thatcher-era ban on the government having public control of water companies”.

So bills will continue to soar while the sewage-dumping shareholders rake it in. But worry not: the government could nationalise Thames Water at some point in the indefinite future, if they wanted to – which they don’t.

Meanwhile, Labour’s transport minister Heidi Alexander pledged to nationalise Avanti West Coast, meaning a massive payout for the bosses using tax-payers’ money. As part of these plans, the government will invest £50 million in London, and only £10 million for all the other Avanti stations combined – so much for bringing more power and funding to the North!

The centrepiece of his speech was the announcement of, if re-elected, the creation of a National Care Service, styled on the NHS – the same NHS which is crumbling due to underinvestment, privatisation, and bureaucratic mismanagement.

Burnham’s plan to pay for this is by ending the ‘triple lock’ ensuring pension growth. The PM claims that this will raise £15 billion by 2040, but think tanks claim that the National Care Service could end up costing £18 billion per year. How will he square this circle? Nobody – including Burnham himself – knows.

All of Burnham’s plans are either unworkable, or simply a rehash of the last government’s austerity agenda – with slightly nicer branding.

If all of this seems terribly familiar, it is because Burnham has merely inherited the same crisis from Starmer. The Labour Party may have had a makeover, but it is still the same crooked, capitalist party as before.

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