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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has made a claim so overblown that even seasoned political observers like Yr Obdt Srvt are rubbing their eyes.
Speaking about Manchester Mayor – and possible challenger for the Labour leadership – Andy Burnham’s economic proposals, Starmer likened them to the disastrous mini-budget unleashed by former Conservative prime minister Liz Truss in 2022.
The comparison is utterly ridiculous.
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Let’s remember the Truss disaster
For 49 short but chaotic days, Liz Truss’s government abandoned fiscal rules in favour of unfunded tax cuts.
The so-called “mini-budget” handed £45 billion in such cuts, mostly to the highest earners, without any clear plan to balance the books.
It panicked the bond market, prompted emergency Bank of England interventions to save pensions, and provoked a collapse in public confidence.
Working people bore the brunt of the financial instability, while Truss herself became a political byword for economic recklessness.
Burnham’s proposals
By contrast, Burnham has suggested a 50p top rate of income tax for the wealthiest, alongside modest tax cuts for low earners.
He has also suggested £40 billion of borrowing to build council housing, and higher council tax on expensive properties in London and the South East.
Far from reckless, the economic measures are standard fiscal policy tools, fully manageable within Labour’s usual budget framework.
The borrowing plan is strategic investment that would strengthen the economy in the medium- to long-term.
And the council tax rise ties in well with Vox Political‘s own proposals for reform – re-organising the tax burden so those with the broadest shoulders contribute more fairly.
There is no abandonment of fiscal rules, no massive unfunded giveaway, and no threat of a market meltdown.
Reality check
One plan triggered a financial crisis; the other is a sensible, redistributive adjustment.
Starmer’s claim that Burnham could unleash a “Truss-style disaster” is not just misleading — it is laughable.
In trying to pre-empt leadership speculation, Starmer has made himself look panicked and, frankly, foolish.
The optics
With Burnham yet to decide on whether he even wants to launch any leadership bid, Starmer’s warning reads as political theatre – or rather, farce.
It is a dramatic, almost cartoonish, scare tactic: warning of a catastrophic economic meltdown over proposals that, in reality, are well within mainstream economic norms.
If the prime minister’s aim was to undermine Burnham, he may have underestimated the intelligence of voters and Labour activists.
His attempt to equate moderate tax reform with one of the worst fiscal disasters in UK history falls spectacularly flat.
It exposes more about his own all-around weakness than about Burnham’s suggestions.
Circling the wagons
Despite the logic of his offer and the silliness of Starmer’s response, Burnham is facing a backlash from Labour MPs – but, again, the attacks say more about the state of Keir Starmer’s leadership than about Burnham himself.
The MPs who rushed to the BBC to denounce him didn’t bother to engage with those policies. Instead, they smeared him as “Japanese knotweed,” called him “self-indulgent,” and dismissed him as a man who “promotes himself every time there’s a crack in the wall.”
It’s the politics of the playground — and it tells us what’s really happening.
With Starmer reeling from weeks of scandal — Angela Rayner’s resignation, the sacking of Peter Mandelson as ambassador, the resignation of his director of communications, Paul Ovenden — and with difficult elections looming next year, MPs are desperate to show unity.
The easiest way to do that is to lash out at anyone who threatens the leader.
Privately, though, the cracks are showing: some MPs admitted Burnham “offers something different” and even that he was “a potential saviour” for those worried about their seats. Others welcomed his “constructive ideas.”
So what do we really see here? Not a measured rejection of Burnham, but MPs circling the wagons around a prime minister who looks weaker by the day.
The louder the attacks on Burnham, the clearer it becomes that he is being taken seriously.
If Starmer were as secure as his allies want us to believe, they wouldn’t need to screech insults at the man who might one day replace him.
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Starmer compares Burnham with Truss — and makes himself look a fool
Share this post:
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has made a claim so overblown that even seasoned political observers like Yr Obdt Srvt are rubbing their eyes.
Speaking about Manchester Mayor – and possible challenger for the Labour leadership – Andy Burnham’s economic proposals, Starmer likened them to the disastrous mini-budget unleashed by former Conservative prime minister Liz Truss in 2022.
The comparison is utterly ridiculous.
Let’s remember the Truss disaster
For 49 short but chaotic days, Liz Truss’s government abandoned fiscal rules in favour of unfunded tax cuts.
The so-called “mini-budget” handed £45 billion in such cuts, mostly to the highest earners, without any clear plan to balance the books.
It panicked the bond market, prompted emergency Bank of England interventions to save pensions, and provoked a collapse in public confidence.
Working people bore the brunt of the financial instability, while Truss herself became a political byword for economic recklessness.
Burnham’s proposals
By contrast, Burnham has suggested a 50p top rate of income tax for the wealthiest, alongside modest tax cuts for low earners.
He has also suggested £40 billion of borrowing to build council housing, and higher council tax on expensive properties in London and the South East.
Far from reckless, the economic measures are standard fiscal policy tools, fully manageable within Labour’s usual budget framework.
The borrowing plan is strategic investment that would strengthen the economy in the medium- to long-term.
And the council tax rise ties in well with Vox Political‘s own proposals for reform – re-organising the tax burden so those with the broadest shoulders contribute more fairly.
There is no abandonment of fiscal rules, no massive unfunded giveaway, and no threat of a market meltdown.
Reality check
One plan triggered a financial crisis; the other is a sensible, redistributive adjustment.
Starmer’s claim that Burnham could unleash a “Truss-style disaster” is not just misleading — it is laughable.
In trying to pre-empt leadership speculation, Starmer has made himself look panicked and, frankly, foolish.
The optics
With Burnham yet to decide on whether he even wants to launch any leadership bid, Starmer’s warning reads as political theatre – or rather, farce.
It is a dramatic, almost cartoonish, scare tactic: warning of a catastrophic economic meltdown over proposals that, in reality, are well within mainstream economic norms.
If the prime minister’s aim was to undermine Burnham, he may have underestimated the intelligence of voters and Labour activists.
His attempt to equate moderate tax reform with one of the worst fiscal disasters in UK history falls spectacularly flat.
It exposes more about his own all-around weakness than about Burnham’s suggestions.
Circling the wagons
Despite the logic of his offer and the silliness of Starmer’s response, Burnham is facing a backlash from Labour MPs – but, again, the attacks say more about the state of Keir Starmer’s leadership than about Burnham himself.
The MPs who rushed to the BBC to denounce him didn’t bother to engage with those policies. Instead, they smeared him as “Japanese knotweed,” called him “self-indulgent,” and dismissed him as a man who “promotes himself every time there’s a crack in the wall.”
It’s the politics of the playground — and it tells us what’s really happening.
With Starmer reeling from weeks of scandal — Angela Rayner’s resignation, the sacking of Peter Mandelson as ambassador, the resignation of his director of communications, Paul Ovenden — and with difficult elections looming next year, MPs are desperate to show unity.
The easiest way to do that is to lash out at anyone who threatens the leader.
Privately, though, the cracks are showing: some MPs admitted Burnham “offers something different” and even that he was “a potential saviour” for those worried about their seats. Others welcomed his “constructive ideas.”
So what do we really see here? Not a measured rejection of Burnham, but MPs circling the wagons around a prime minister who looks weaker by the day.
The louder the attacks on Burnham, the clearer it becomes that he is being taken seriously.
If Starmer were as secure as his allies want us to believe, they wouldn’t need to screech insults at the man who might one day replace him.
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