Keir Starmer has defended his record in government after former PM Tony Blair claimed the current Labour Party lacks a coherent plan, while Andy Burnham said Sir Tony had overlooked falling living standards
Keir Starmer has hit back at Tony Blair after his blistering attack on the government – while Andy Burnham accused the former PM of “retro” thinking.
Mr Starmer defended his record after Sir Tony accused the current Labour leadership of having no coherent plan. And Mr Burnham – who is seeking a Westminister return after the Makerfield by-election next month, claimed the Blair years had failed to turn Britain away from Margaret Thatcher’s damaging policies.
Sir Tony’s explosive intervention, which came as Labour fights a tricky campaign ahead of the June 18 vote, demanded net zero targets are scrapped. He also said the triple lock pension protection should be reviewed and slammed the PM’s handling of Donald Trump.
Mr Starmer said: “You won’t be surprised to know that I don’t agree with much what Tony says about what the government is doing. We can all argue about individual policies, but the real question is what’s the change, what’s the difference that is happening in a country that we inherited two years ago in a very poor place?
“We put the policy in place to stabilise the economy and make sure that it grew, so wealth was created in every part of the country because of our policy choices. That is happening.
“And you see that in the figures.” He said the government is turning around the NHS by driving down waiting lists, driving economic growth and bringing down immigration.”
Sir Tony’s intervention – which was criticised for its timing – has sparked consternation within Labour circles. But Mr Burnham said his 5,700 word essay – which he had read three times – did not say anything about the fall in living standards that is at the top of voters’ concerns.
Mr Burham wrote in The Times that Sir Tony’s approach would lead to past mistakes being repeated. Pointing to the former PM’s call for further deregulation, he said: “This is the real ‘retro’ thinking, I suggest; the kind of thinking that would doom us to repeat past mistakes and, if we’re not careful, prevent us from protecting children by failing to regulate social media, artificial intelligence and big tech.”
And he claimed that during the Blair years, Labour should have undone more of Margaret Thatcher’s legacy. Mr Burnham, who held a number of ministerial roles, wrote: “The Labour government in which I was proud to serve did many great things. It did not, however, take us off the direction set by Thatcher. For instance, the failure to reform right-to-buy and fully restore the public housing stock is the root cause of today’s housing crisis.”
And he pointed to his record cutting bus fares since becoming Greater Manchester Mayor, ending the deregulation overseen by Mrs Thatcher. The Mayor called for greater powers to be devolved to local authorities better equipped to serve their communities than Westminster.
Mr Burnham wrote: “At present we have a threadbare local state and a bloated national one. We will not create the conditions for local growth if things stay like that.”
And he said tackling the size of the welfare system requires sweeping changes to the education system, shifting focus to practical routes for young people. It comes after he accused Sir Tony of ignoring inequality in his scathing attack on Wednesday.
Sir Tony wrote: “The government’s principal problem isn’t Keir’s personality. Or a failure to communicate ‘our achievements’. Or a need to assert more strongly Labour’s values.
“It is because we don’t have a worked-out, coherent plan for the country in a fast-changing world and are in the wrong political position from which we can devise one and win a second term.”