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Lewis Goodall and Natasha Clark join Shelagh Fogarty to react to Burnham's 'emotional' conference speech.
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0:00
The United Kingdom my dad represented is the one I believe in, a union of nations that gave trade unions and the cooperative movement to the world
0:12
The National Health Service, a country that stood up to fascism, a country of solidarity, not separation
0:22
That's the Britain that my dad represented. There was a moment there, wasn't there, where he had to stop for upwards of a minute to gather himself as he committed to his father everything that he was describing in that speech
0:38
As I said, high emotion, but there was concrete policy. And that's what we'll talk about as well
0:42
I think it's interesting. He said at the end there, didn't he? I'm offering, he said, honesty, ideas and a clear direction
0:51
Is that what you heard? Is that what you saw? is his version of it what you want
0:57
Andy Burnham just getting a kiss there from his wife before. She didn't join him up on the stage, as sometimes happens
1:03
And then he's getting a big hug from his friends and colleagues on the conference floor again, as you often see at the end of a big speech
1:11
And that was a big speech in more ways than one. Before we speak to or hear from Natasha and Lewis
1:19
let's just quickly go through, I mean, some of what we heard there. the triple lock again next parliament is going to be in the manifesto for the 2029 election this
1:27
isn't something he's doing now triple lock honored until that point it will be kept until that point
1:33
but at that point on the labor manifesto it's clear there will be a change to it in 2030 that's
1:39
what he has announced essentially turning it into a into a double lock in order to at least go
1:45
towards the funding of the national care service that he outlined it was interesting our last caller
1:50
before that speech began was a woman in tears because of the cost of her father's care and the
1:55
fact that the costs of it were coming out of his basic state pension. Andy Burnham announcing
2:00
minutes later that that will end under the National Care Service, which he wants to get in place
2:07
sometime next year. This is after Louise Casey brings forward her full review. On water, he says
2:16
He's ending what he called an ideological ban on public ownership of the water companies
2:22
On housing he giving stronger powers to councils to take over to essentially possess to buy poor rental properties that aren kept up in good order making the point that we don allow people to sell food that is harmful to people well we kind of do but but you know I
2:41
get the point he was making food that is harmful to people and we shouldn't allow people to rent
2:45
housing that is harmful to people that I think will resonate with a lot of people just some
2:51
seriously concrete news that from thursday so from tomorrow is it no it's tuesday today from
2:57
thursday um there will be no vat on your energy bills there you go it'll be gone um what else did
3:04
he go into um he talked about yeah energy bills water triple lock social care immigration left
3:09
immigration and brexit towards the end and said a little about it didn't go as far as sadiq khan
3:14
was suggesting at the weekend the mayor of london when he was looking uh for a commitment to join the
3:19
customs union immediately, become an associate member following on from that and then in the
3:24
manifesto in 2029 to commit to rejoining the EU. That was the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan's
3:30
suggestion at the weekend. Andy Burnham didn't go that far in this speech but did talk about Brexit
3:35
saying it did more harm than good and it did not give us back control and he ended on that
3:43
reminder very much to the party faithful there that there were Labour governments in 1945
3:50
64, 97 and now. And in his words, they all brought about periods of great change
3:55
particularly for working and working class people. Honesty, ideas and a clear direction
4:02
Natasha, let me start with you. There was a fair bit to get our teeth into there
4:06
wasn't there? Not least the emotion, but also on policy as well. Yeah, a really different speech from the Prime Minister today
4:13
that I think we've seen from Prime Ministers, Labour leaders in the last few years
4:17
But really, I think today, Sheila, the main takeaway is that I'm thinking from that speech
4:21
Firing the starting gun on the next election, he is telling us what is going to be in the Labour Party's manifesto for 2029
4:27
and who knows whether he'll make it that long before calling a general election
4:31
But some fascinating ideas in there and stuff that actually Prime Ministers
4:35
as he said, have shied away for so long. and Andy Burnham making it a cornerstone of what he wants his premiership to be
4:41
basic care for older people, and basically setting out exactly what he would do to pay for that
4:47
while announcing that he will scrap the triple lock from April 2030
4:52
We thought that he was going to open that conversation, open the door to it, but actually he has already made his decision
4:57
He wants to spend billion a year He wants to put it directly into his social care plans Now of course this is all going to be a bit of a shock to some of the MPs and of the Labour Party members here in the
5:09
hall. It's slightly, the mood in the hall slightly dampened a little bit when he started setting this
5:15
out. And it felt to me that that was when the Labour members were just starting to sort of be a
5:20
bit more cautious, a little bit more sort of worried about what he might say next. But Sheila
5:25
overall you saw that emotion from Andy Burnham in his voice there. He took a long, long pause
5:30
before talking about his father, clearly still very fresh in his mind, very emotional, talking
5:36
about how he had grown up in the council house that his parents had then went on to buy
5:42
and the story behind what his sort of political journey has been on. And obviously, losing
5:48
his father just a couple of weeks ago, he wants that to be his legacy. Some really interesting
5:53
stuff in there, Sheila. What stood out to me as well, removing homes
5:57
and making them easier to seize if necessary. That's a pretty radical idea
6:01
Some I think a lot of Labour members will support, but others, including some people in the
6:05
hall around me, turned to me and said, oh, that's a little bit Soviet, isn't it
6:09
Hang on, it's important to say because we don't want to scare people who might have just
6:13
tuned in. He's talking about very poor quality rental houses that people are suffering
6:17
in, not just the state turning up and saying, oh, we like to look at your house. He's absolutely not saying the state is going to take your house, unless
6:23
you are a poor, dodgy landlord not treating your tenants with respect
6:27
That's what Andy Burnham was talking about in there. He promised leasehold reform by Christmas
6:32
And a huge cheer in the room, Sheila, when he was talking about repeal of Thatcher's ideological ban
6:36
on the public ownership of water companies. That is one step closer to the nationalisation of some of these water companies
6:42
which he said is a terrible situation in the UK right now
6:47
and clearly wants to make that a big part of it. He's trying to sweeten the deal on the triple lock as well
6:52
talking about how low-income pensioners won't be dragged into paying income tax in this parliament
6:57
Not quite clear exactly what that's going to look like. He also said that no state pension will be used to pay for care
7:03
That will also be another sweetener to some of those core voters who Andy Burnham, the Labour Party, won over in 2024
7:10
And now it's going to be a big political risk for him. Also, finally, Sheila, on Brexit, really reopening the Brexit debate at the very end of that speech
7:17
saying he wants this big national conversation about what our future relationship with the EU
7:22
is going to look like. Is that going to plunge the Labour Party into a fresh civil war? We'll
7:26
have to wait and see. And Lewis, stay with us, Natasha, as well. But Lewis, is what we saw here
7:31
I mean as I was listening I could hear dollops of Corbynism I could hear dollops of you know your classic Labour policies that you would expect But he seems to be using more political now than we seen of late in terms of bringing the idea forward and saying right let get stuck in
7:49
I'm going to bring you with me or I'm not. But let's get stuck in. Well, Sheila, look, I think let's take a step back
7:57
I've seen a lot of party conference speeches from Labour leaders and others
8:01
And I have to say, not just in person, but sad as I am, watch half of them on YouTube and through the archive
8:07
I have to say, I think that one will take its place among the pantheon of the most important
8:12
Why do I say that? Not only was it remarkably delivered, he made both a compelling intellectual case for greater state intervention, for social democracy
8:24
He also made an emotional case, both for the Labour Party, but also for the union
8:31
and he managed to weave all of those themes together pretty effortlessly
8:35
But I think it's more than just about the delivery, and I think it's more than just about the fact that Andy Burnham, I think
8:41
is the first proper political teacher, if you like, that we've had as Prime Minister since Tony Blair
8:48
I think that that speech marks a turning point in the political and intellectual life of this country over the past 40 years
8:57
Why do I say that? because Andy Burnham is the first Labour prime minister we've had since Margaret Thatcher
9:04
who is consciously and avowedly and explicitly choosing to repudiate all elements of the Thatcherite settlement
9:13
That's not something that Tony Blair ever did. He famously said that he wanted to build on what Margaret Thatcher had done
9:18
Gordon Brown, Ditto, Labour leaders in the interim. Keir Starmer, again, didn't make that case
9:23
What you see there, and you can agree with it, you can disagree with it. you heard Andy Burnham making an intellectual case
9:30
for a more traditional interventionist state that we might have seen in the years before 1979
9:39
As I say, you can agree with it or not, but what you can't say is that for the first time
9:44
I think for quite a long time now, the Labour Party has a Labour leader
9:48
who is committed to fighting the battle of ideas. And I will make one wager with you, Sheila
9:54
I think if I went around with my microphone just now and all the delegates and all the people in this hall
9:59
I don't think I'd find many And he don't think I'd find any who would turn to me and say you know what
10:05
I really wish I'd know what Keir would have done if he'd been making that speech this year. I
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