Labour leader faces tough decisions on issues such as North Sea drilling, electoral reform and defence spending
After a relatively cheery summer in which he announced a range of eye-catching cost of living policies, Andy Burnham may find his return to parliament this week to be a rude awakening.
While the new prime minister has enjoyed some success in the polls, he is faced with many of the same problems that stymied Keir Starmer and has some difficult and unpopular choices to make.
The Rosebank oilfield and the Jackdaw gasfield have been in limbo for a year after a court case ruled the consent given to drill by the previous Conservative government was unlawful. Now, it is in the hands of the energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, to make the quasi-judicial decision to allow the drilling to start.
Burnham has promised to take a “pragmatic” approach to North Sea oil and gas as the unions complain about job losses caused by Labour’s manifesto promise to end all oil and gas licences and the Iran crisis tightens supply of gas around the globe.
It has been reported Burnham will direct his energy secretary to approve the Jackdaw gasfield. Industry estimates suggest the Jackdaw gasfield could supply roughly 6% of the UK’s future gas output. But this will not impact bills, as gas is sold on a global market. He is said to be less sure about allowing Rosebank, which the former energy secretary Ed Miliband, who is now foreign secretary, referred to as “climate vandalism”.
He faces a revolt from left-of-centre Labour MPs and the Green party’s outspoken leader, Zack Polanski, will undoubtedly make hay out of the decision. It is also a difficult choice to make after a summer of record-breaking heat, exacerbated by climate breakdown.
Burnham is due to meet Donald Trump in September at the UN general assembly in New York City.
It may be hard to break the ice; when he was mayor of Manchester, he previously referred to Trump as “poisonous” and said he would not be welcome in the city. The US president has disparagingly referred to Burnham as the “mayor of a town”.
But the pair may get along. They had a friendly phone conversation, with Burnham saying : “We had a good phone call on my first day in office and looking forward to meeting in person.” Commenting on the call, Trump said approvingly: “He said he’s going to open up North Sea oil. If he does that, you’re going to be a wealthy country.”
Rather than oil and gas, Burnham will be hoping to discuss the war in Ukraine with the president. He recently met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and promised to drum up more international support for the country.
One of his most pressing challenges is the electoral reform bill, which returns to parliament this week. Burnham has previously backed a cap on individual donations as low as £500,000 to stop the mega-rich influencing UK politics. But now he has reportedly dropped this cap altogether after being lobbied by the unions. The measure would have been a key tool in stopping Reform, which relies on a few wealthy donors.
Another issue that will crop up in this bill is electoral reform, which Burnham has also previously backed. Nearly 100 Labour MPs are supporting an amendment which asks the prime minister to set up a commission on electoral reform in the first 100 days of his government. The Liberal Democrats will also take the opportunity to pressure Burnham on this.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said: “If Andy Burnham fails to change the political system as PM he will be remembered as another Starmer but with a decent social media team.”
A natural showman, Burnham might be looking forward to his first Labour conference as prime minister. The event, happening at the end of September, will demonstrate how good he is at bringing together members. He will also hope to avoid any votes that show the members have a different view to the government. Starmer struggled last year after a successful motion that labeled Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide, a definition he did not accept.
