Read what people have been writing to our editor about this week. Find out how to share your own views here.
Burnham – would you?
Burnham has blown away his chances of leading the Labour Party. My wife and I have been members of the Labour Party for over 60 years and in the past voted for Burnham in two elections for leadership when he stood against Corbyn and Milliband and he did not do well in both elections.
His latest burst of egotism is disappointing and reflects why he is not up to the job. The Geopolitical World is a different place and you need a leader like Starmer who is educated and stands out on the World Stage. Starmer’s handling of the Ukraine conflict and trade deals has been outstanding. Burnham does not have that charisma or education and looks far to much a parochial Northener.
His recent behaviour in our opinion is undermining the Labour Party and he will never get our support again. His economic thinking is on a par with Liz Truss and Farage promising everyone every thing they need without detailing how he would pay for it. Smell the Coffee Andy and stop playing into the hands of the right wing Tory press.
Kind regards
Tess & Bill Rees
*****
Surely we have learnt from the chaos of the Tory years, that a revolving door approach to leadership is doomed to failure.It is also clear, from the reaction of many MPs, that Burnham is not as well regarded as he believes.
From a Council perspective the key features of our first 12 months in power have been down to public communications.
Poor/bungled communication evidenced most sharply by the unnecessary Winter Fuel debacle and compounded by the focus on Employers National Insurance as a major source of revenues.
A failure to be honest with the scale of the mess we inherited; the prisons estate being an honourable exception.
Clear messaging on the positive changes Government has enacted, and how they will benefit people and the economy.
We should not focus on the churn of personnel in Downing Street. There is a difference between opposition and delivery and it is inevitable that some will be found wanting in the transition.
The vision, whilst still hazy, is being developed and implemented, and we have almost four years left.
Starmer will deliver.
So OK some silly mistakes have been made by the government. But in the grand design of things they have not been catastrophic. The party’s factions have always been at each other’s throats forgetting that internal differences on policy issues should not overshadow the fact of who we should really be trying to overcome – i.e. the other political parties.
Openly flying kites over changing the leadership only encourages the opposition & the press to talk up the matter.
Let’s get a grip and stop this self harm.
Nigel Ellis-Grey.
*****
I am never comfortable with factional labels but I suppose if anything Im part of the horribly named soft left. (I don’t like being soft anything.)
I have been a Labour supporter since my parents campaigned (in Orpington) for Attlee in 1945. I resigned my membership twice. The first was because I was fed up with backbiting by a faction in my ward party and more recently because I couldn’t stomach the timidity of the Starmer government in a number of areas, but he has gone on disappointing me.
I’d love to rejoin but I’m not convinced the present leadership is going to unite the party and convince the country to reelect Labour in 2029. I voted for Andy Burnham in 2010 and feel his performance in Manchester and the three successive leaders’ performance have confirmed my decision.
I’d hate to see the party divided by a leadership pretender but if Burnham should become leader there’s a good chance I’d rejoin.
Roger Sturge
Bristol NW (former member)
*****
Dear Emma
As a Labour Party member for well over 30 years, this is the worst Labour Government that I can remember. Starmer has to go – not only as a PM but as MP too.
The solution?
Allow Andy Burham to stand in Holborn and St Pancras. No way, either Conservative or Reform would be able to win this seat.
In solidarity.
C V
*****
Welfare reform
*****
I enjoy reading Labour List and find it both interesting and informative – I am a Labour Party member and strongly oppose scrapping the two child benefit cap as I believe there are better ways of dealing with child benefit and, by scrapping it, Labour would lose even more support from the electorate as a whole.
The general assumption seems to be that all Labour members want it scrapped – I don’t.
Have you done any polling on this subject with Labour members?
William Brown
[Note from the editor: Hi William – thank you so much for being such a loyal reader. We do have some polling that shows 84 per cent of members either strongly or somewhat support scrapping the cap.]
*****
I want EU back?
As the party gathers in Liverpool to reflect on the challenges we face, we would do well to heed Neil Kinnock’s reminder last week that the dire state of public finances we inherited is made much worse by the consequences of Brexit. The economy is some 4 or 5 percent smaller than it would have been, which means a loss of tax revenue of about £40billion every year – a figure that would make a huge difference in our ability to finance our priorities and the nation’s needs.
Most of this loss arises from no longer being in the single market and customs union. Ruling out participation even in these, let alone rejoining the EU, makes our economic situation significantly more difficult. We need to start reconsidering this, along with the political costs of being out of the room when key decisions for our continent are made.
Given the slow but steady increase in the majority who say opinion polls that Brexit was a mistake, it’s time to abandon the ultra-cautious approach on rebuilding our links with Europe.
Richard Corbett CBE
Former Labour Leader in the European Parliament
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