What could Andy Burnham do as PM to improve daily life?

[Seasidecatlady]

There are some negative threads about Andy Burnham this morning so I wanted to have something a bit more positive and look at what he could do, if he becomes PM, to help improve our daily lives.

For me it would be:

• re-nationalise water and utility companies and trains
• reverse the national insurance hike for businesses so they can start hiring again and do more to support small businesses in general
• a one off wealth tax to add funding to the defence budget
• reform the student loans system, improve access to apprenticeship and also do more to help job seekers over 50.

• add a bank holiday
• give headteachers 10 days discretion on authorised holiday in term time (as it used to be)

It's always someone else's fault and a race to the bottom isn't it 🙄

Your going to be disappointed if you’re hoping any Labour government is going to do those things.

I paid into the state pension and a private pension for 44 years, this will fund my care if needed or do you want to pay it? How about not giving state pensions and benefits to those who chose not to work. Bring back the child benefit cap at two kids.

I’d be very worried we would disincentive saving for a private pension or end up with people worse off, unless the thresholds are very high and ‘locked’ so they aren’t devalued by inflation over time.

On your first point, where is the money coming from to pay off shareholders in those companies? If your answer is along the lines of 'screw em', how would you feel if all houses were nationalised without any recompense?

Agree with your second point

Third point, no. Defence is an ongoing expense. Where will the money come from to maintain defence? Your way is similar to someone on the dole winning the Omaze house and then trying to maintain it whilst still on the dole.

Fourth point. OK but concentrate more on the younger people.

You touched on pensions later. Why should someone who has been prudent all their lives be penalised for building up a decent pension pot? Should such people have all their NI contributions refunded?

Hey, the thread title was what could he do... I'm well aware I'm shit out of luck.

Stop HS2
Stop right to buy
Grant oil exploration licences
renationalise water
Reform national insurance increase
Reform pensions
Drop winter fuel allowance for all
Drop free prescriptions for all over 60

OP: None of those proposals were in the Labour Party Manifesto on which the party was elected by the people of the UK.

What right does Burnham - if he ever becomes leader of the party having already lost two leadership campaigns- have to introduce these policies?

Whether one likes it or not, Labour have a majority because the middle of the road voters backed Starmer who they saw as a middle of the road candidate.

So any new leader wanting to change the direction of travel would need to call a general election.

Bond yields already up so Burnhams victory is already costing ££££ that could have been spent on better things.

Op do you not understand how goverment works? The prime minister isn’t a one man band, he’s just the figure head, leader, the party decides the politics and policies, not the prime minister, his or her powers are limited.

a change at the top is irrelevant, the party has to change its policies. And burnham is going to try to make it even more hard left than it is now, which is going to be utter fucking carnage, as this is not a hard left country and never will be, his own party will fight him and the voters will think Starmer was a saint in comparison,

Remind me how many times the Tories changed leaders without going back to the electorate in recent years? Liz Truss had quite the mandate for the fiasco she caused didn't she?

Oh, that's not fair. I'm on the other side to the political fence as the op, but it's clear this is a, 'if I were Queen', discussion, right? It is wishful thinking not a battle plan.

Are you saying that maakes it OK?

He's great. Sensible. Open minded. Backs community led regeneration. Wants to create reform of Public Services on a neighbourhood level. Giving money to well run community organisations rather than profit making DWP organisations.
I've been in meetings with him with very opposing views, and he manages to help people speak together in a more collaborative manner.
He's passionate, and isn't afraid to stand up for what he believes him even if it gets him in trouble.

I find threads like this and the ops post so dismaying. How on earth do we get to a stage that adults in the uk have no grasp of how government works, no idea why there are whole parties of mps, or opposing parties and think it’s a dictatorship where someone becomes prime minister and just does things.

we need to better educate people.

Why would he sack Sadiq Khan? And how would doing so improve daily life? BTW, the PM can't sack an elected mayor

Legalise housebuilding.
Energy supply.
Reform social housing allocation.
Scrap SDLT. Tax simplification.
Scrap triple lock.

Free university only for those with the top grades and bring back the student nursing bursary

Westminster doesn’t subsidise these things. Devolved nations get a budget. Up to them how they spend it.

Obviously, the OP doesn't understand how politics work. Like a lot of posters on this thread...

That is a common misunderstanding.

The fact is we are not paying into a state pension for ourselves.

We are just paying for current pensioners through taxes/national insurance.

You have not been building a state pension pot for yourself with your 44 year contributions unfortunately.

Reforming the system means making sure that the state pension system is still there for decades to come but only for those who need it.

If you nationalise water, the companies will have even less money than they do now for investment into infrastructure etc. It will only slow down improvements.

Yep. Maybe there should be a test to be allowed to vote. One of the questions could be ‘is there a magic money tree’?

Sack Ed milliband and reeves - divert money to defence and invest in something to sort out the dreadful situation with the NEETs. Oh and re privatise water and reform planning so some shit can actually get done. Also - sort out rail links in the north!

Call a General Election and give the electorate a chance to have their say. O voted for Starmer in 2024, not a cartoon character.