Burnham wants to rehabilitate the 'S' word, will it work or are we wise to it?

[claig]

www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jul/01/andy-burnham-labour-leadership-socialist-values

Just heard Burnham on Question Time use the phrase "aspirational socialism". I'd never heard it before, sounded like an oxymoron. He's addressing what many think of the 'S' word i.e. levelling down, lack of aspiration.
Can he change the image of the 'S' word or is this a spin too far?

Ooh, I like Andy Burnham, he's a local lad.

You've got to hand it to him, he is addressing fundamental issues that are at the core of Labour's image problem with many voters. If he can succeed in convincing us that "aspirational socialism" is real, then he could be onto a winner.

It is an oxymoron, unfortunately. When the union leader commenting about the primary school teacher on the massive salary last week was forced to admit that he didn't think good performace deserved financial reward in principle, I thought that came across as very 'anti-aspirational'. And given that since 1997 social mobility has gone down instead of up, that's rather put a damper on aspiration for a lot of people.

good points Chil1234, Burnham will have his work cut out if he wants to change attitudes