Andy Burnham stresses common ground in appeal to Corbyn backers
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Version 0 of 1. Andy Burnham has made an explicit plea to anyone thinking of voting for Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader to pick him instead for what he described as “the worst job in politics”, saying there was “a good deal of common ground” between him and the veteran leftwinger. Complimenting Corbyn on “bringing real energy” to the leadership race, Burnham said the two men shared key policies on housing and rail nationalisation, but insisted: “I’m the only candidate who can unite our party.” In a speech at the People’s History Museum in Manchester punctuated with loud applause, the shadow health secretary said he and Corbyn diverged on other issues such as Nato and EU membership, how to pay for public and student finances, the size of the public sector and renationalisation of utility companies. “I don’t see how renationalisation of utilities could be considered a priority for public spending at a time when people’s tax credits are being cut, nor how printing money to pay for infrastructure will help restore the trust we have lost on the economy,” Burnham said, referring to Corbyn’s proposal to introduce a form of “people’s quantitative easing”. Sometimes accused of being a policy magpie, Burnham was at pains to suggest he had not stolen Corbyn’s ideas but had thought of them earlier. “There is a good deal of common ground between Jeremy and I on some of the big ideas he – and I – have brought to this race,” he said, the second “and I” an apparent ad-lib, having not featured in the pre-issued written speech. “On housing, one of the first announcements I made during this campaign was about my plans to tackle Britain’s housing crisis and set a new pledge for Labour to take into the next election: a decent and affordable home for everyone to rent or own. “I want to trust our councils to borrow to build again and provide the homes their communities need, and Jeremy has said something similar. We agree on the need for much tougher regulation of the private rented sector. “Jeremy and I share the belief, as voters of all parties do, that rail privatisation has been a disaster.” Burnham also said he was open to “Jeremy’s idea of a National Education Service” offering lifelong free access to schooling, but said university students should contribute to their further education via a graduate tax. Sometimes knocked for trying to be all things to all people, Burnham also told the audience he was both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine. “There’s always balance here. I strongly believe Israel has a right to exist and have security,” he said. He also said he voted for the recognition of Palestine and was appalled to witness the deterioration in living conditions of Palestinians in the West Bank between two visits he made in 2004 and 2012. In a question and answer session he insisted he welcomed recent interventions by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in the leadership contest, because “anyone who has led the Labour party has a lot to say”. He did not reveal his thoughts about a plan allegedly concocted by the Labour peer Lord Mandelson for all three non-Corbyn candidates to withdraw in the hope that the contest would be annulled. He thanked Neil Kinnock, who has endorsed him in the race, saying the former leader had got him involved in Labour politics “and got me into this position where I am standing now, applying for the worst job in politics”. |