Despite a reaffirmation from embattled Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer late Friday that he’s preparing to fight for his position, the consensus of the British tabloids and media by Sunday morning is that he has concluded that he has reached the end of the line, and is “set to resign.” The final blow came from formerly loyal cabinet ministers, who urged him over the day Saturday to step down, to avoid a divisive fight , as the main challenger, Andy Burnham, has lined up close to 300 Labour MPs who will support him to oust Starmer.
With the likelihood of his downfall seen as inevitable, the press has finally gotten to ask the question: Who is Andy Burnham and what does he stand for? The preliminary assessment seems to be that he is likely to follow the policies of Starmer, but with more energy! Two issues of note on defense of the Empire: he has stated he will increase defense spending, following Starmer’s push for the E3 to engage in a substantial build-up, to address the “Russian threat” and to create jobs—he was a supporter of the Iraq war, as an MP in the early 2000s—and he has a more pronounced tilt in favor of Zionism, as a member of Labour Friends of Israel. He has adopted the establishment’s line of the need to combat “resurgent anti-Semitism” following the gang-countergang polarization in the UK triggered by disgust at Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
As for economic policy, though he has said he would adopt policies more favorable to working people, in the past he has been a supporter of the Blairite “New Labour” policy of neo-liberal public-private sector investment and deregulation.
