Labor must support proportional representation for the Westminster election to allow more co-operation between political parties on a program of urgently needed social reform, Andy Burnham said.
Writing for the Observer after two defeats in the Tory midterm elections, caused in part by a tactical vote by Labor and Liberal Democrats, the mayor of Greater Manchester says PR must be at the heart of a whole new approach to politics and policy-making.
Burnham insists he is not talking about any form of “election pact” involving Labor and other parties, and that his intervention is not part of the candidacy for leadership against Keir Starmer. “It’s nothing like that,” he says. “I’m doing this because I want Keir to take advantage of the moment.”
But in the run-up to the midterm elections, he says opponents of the Tories now have the opportunity to work together more. In doing so, they could create a political system in which power is distributed more evenly and fairly, instead of concentrating on what he describes as “Whitehall’s small elite” as a result of a “first past after” electoral system. which has traditionally been preferred by the Tories.
Changing the voting system, a move likely to encourage small parties and increase the chances of coalitions, would foster a spirit of consensus and agreement on other radical and necessary elements of political modernization, such as replacing the House of Lords with an elected second house and more. delegation.
“What I am proposing now is cooperation on a political reform agenda. At the grassroots level, Labor is moving in support of PR, ”he said.
“If the party as a whole is to accept it, it paves the way for an agreement with other parties for broader reforms: an elected senate of nations and regions to replace the lords and a maximum transfer of power from Westminster.
Andy Burnham. Photo: Jacob King / PA
These new structures, with the number of MPs from different parties better reflecting the votes cast, will pave the way for co-operation and consensus on key challenges facing the country, the Manchester mayor suggested.
Instead, today’s Conservative government was an example of paralysis and dysfunction, in which the ruling party sought separation from its opponents in a desperate effort to stay in power instead of focusing on the urgent national problems affecting the British people.
“Just when we needed a grown government, we got one that doesn’t govern, but campaigns for its own survival by fomenting divisions and starting battles,” Burnham wrote.
A spirit of co-operation was needed on issues such as housing, social care and public services with the same urgency as after World War II.
Burnham adds: “My starting point for 10 would be: good housing as a human right in UK law and a big housing program to make it a reality; a higher basic minimum income for all and an end to precarious employment; NHS social care and a significant increase in mental health spending: and the renationalisation of rail transport and the re-regulation of bus services.
“Whatever the exact political agenda, the enormity of the change needed cannot be denied and will require consensus and political foundations to sustain it for a generation or more.”
Labor policy is not to support PR for the Westminster election, although several proposals will be made at the party’s conference in September. The country’s largest union, Unison, recently backed PR for the Westminster election at its annual conference, which was hailed by electoral reform activists as a “huge boost”.
Add Comment