Could we be at the dawn of a new era of genuine collaboration between our two governments?

Martin Shipton

There’s an engaging short video of Andy Burnham sitting on a seat near the main library in Cardiff city centre, having conversations one day this week with members of the public who have been invited to ‘Ask Andy Anything”.

Some will dismiss it as a gimmick, but having watched it my view is that it has the mark of authenticity. It’s certainly all the better for not having obtrusive party officials lurking around and calling the shots.

Inevitably Burnham’s responses to the questions are variable in quality and impact. Some are of the nebulous “Something must be done” kind – though never uttered cynically or coming across as an attempt to avoid the question.

Others offer a practical solution, such as explaining how homelessness has been tackled in Manchester with the biggest council house building programme in the post-war period.

Everyone who asks a question is treated with respect, and I’m sure they left thinking they’d had a positive experience.

I’ve interviewed Burnham a couple of times, when he stood previously for the Labour leadership. On both occasions I found him a pleasant person to talk to, and others have said the same.

Years later it seems to me that he has developed a more focussed perspective, undoubtedly stemming from his nine years as the Mayor of Greater Manchester. I disagree with those who sneer at him for his supposed audacity in seeking to breeze back into Westminster, as if having stepped down from Parliament and served as the Mayor of a northern city was somehow trading down. Such a mentality exemplifies the London-centric nature of Britain’s political culture and is to be deplored.

In terms of their respective personalities, I have no hesitation in saying that Burnham has more going for him than Starmer. I first met Starmer at the start of his political career when he was on what appeared to be a tour of Britain to introduce himself as a future big player in the Labour Party. I was one of perhaps 25 people invited along from “civil society” to attend a lunch in a Cardiff restaurant, listen to a short speech from Starmer and then engage in informal chat with him. It was rather cringeworthy and my impression of Starmer was – to be brutally honest – that he was fairly dull and uninspiring. He certainly wasn’t brimful of ideas or original thoughts, and could in no sense be described as a latter day rival to Oscar Wilde.

Right wing faction

It therefore came as no surprise to me to learn many years later from books by Gabriel Pogrund & Patrick Maguire and Paul Holden that Starmer was essentially a vehicle for Morgan McSweeney and others to use as a means to seize control of the Labour Party for a right wing faction.

Holden’s book is titled The Fraud because of the way Starmer was portrayed as more left wing than he is to make him more palatable for party members as a successor to Jeremy Corbyn. While the planning was done by McSweeney and co, Starmer went along with the strategy because he was highly ambitious.

To revert to the comparison with Burnham, it’s inconceivable that Starmer would have invited passers-by to question him as he sat on a chair outside Cardiff Central Library.

But there’s much more to being Prime Minister than having a genial manner and an inclination to be positive – both of which worked to Burnham’s great advantage in the Makerfield by-election, regardless of his merits as Greater Manchester Mayor.

For us in Wales, it’s important that his time as Mayor has given him an understanding of the theory and practice of devolution – although some distinguished constitutional experts have pointed out that his knowledge of the issue comes from a different angle.

‘Profound discontent’

Anthony Barnett, who has campaigned for constitutional change in Britain for decades, having been the founding director of Charter 88 and the co-founder of openDemocracy, recently participated in a conference about the future of Europe in Brussels. The conference prompted him to write an article in which he stated: “The [recent election] results in Scotland and Wales are part of a wave of profound discontent sweeping the UK. It has driven the Prime Minister from office. All the attention at the moment is on Andy Burnham.

“However, beware of England’s longing for ‘change’. Much of it is now for real. But also what is projected onto him is a desire that he refresh the status quo. Not least by keeping ‘Great Britain’ in one piece. There is almost no discussion of the challenge of civic nationalist movements in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Yet they already express the inclusive ‘politics of place’ Burnham rightly wants to see across England.

“So, while democrats in England face the fight of our lives against the far-right, a trans-British ‘Celtic’ politics of inclusive, civic nationalism is already democratically elected and in government in our three sister nations.”

Barnett is right to point out that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have civic nationalist First Ministers, although I would stress that the devolved legislatures are not on equal terms with Westminster which, as we know, has been seeking to grab back powers from them.

In Wales this has been going on with the connivance of Labour MPs, many of whom have nominated Burnham.

Burnham, however, has made some conciliatory statements about working with the devolved administrations – a message that jars with the attitude adopted by Starmer’s Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens. It will be interesting to see whether or not he reappoints her.

Paradox

It seems to me that initially it makes sense to take Burnham at his word and see if it is possible for the Plaid Cymru minority Welsh Government and Burnham’s UK Government can work together in the best interests of Wales. If that happens, the doubts that have arisen over the Welsh Labour Senedd group’s motive in defeating the Supplementary Budget even after securing major concessions may prove temporary.

There may be a paradox here. It’s unlikely that most members of the previous Labour Cabinet would have undermined the Plaid Cymru government by voting down the Supplementary Budget. In doing so, the rump group of Labour MSs have played a tune orchestrated by Starmer and Stevens. But Starmer has gone and Stevens may be on her way too.

If Burnham is as good as his word and adopts a more collaborative approach with, in our case, the Welsh Government, any further antics from the Labour Senedd group would be pointless and silly.

While reserving final judgement and with all due caution, could we be at the dawn of a new era of genuine collaboration between our two governments?

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