Labor should support proportional representation for the Westminster election to allow for more co-operation between political parties in an urgent social reform program, says Andy Burnham.
Writing for the Observer after two partial electoral defeats for the Conservatives, caused in part by the tactical voting of Labor and Liberal Democrat supporters, the mayor of Greater Manchester says public relations should be at the center of a completely new approach to policy and policy making. .
Burnham insists he is not talking about any form of “electoral pact” involving Labor and other parties, and that his intervention is not part of a leadership bid against Keir Starmer. “That’s none of that,” he says. “I’m doing this because I want Keir to seize the moment.”
But after the by-elections, he argues that there is now an opportunity for Conservative opponents to work more together. In this way, they could create a political system in which power is distributed more equitably and fairly, rather than focusing on what he describes as a “small Whitehall elite” as a result of a system. first-step election, which has traditionally favored the Tories.
Changing the voting system, a movement that could boost 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 the replacement of the House of Lords by a second elected chamber and more return.
“What I propose is to cooperate now in a program of political reform. At the grassroots level, Labor is moving towards support for public relations, ”he says.
“If the party as a whole accepted it, it would pave the way for an agreement with other parties on broader reforms: an elected senate of nations and regions to replace the Lords and the maximum return of power outside Westminster.”
Andy Burnham. Photography: Jacob King / PA
These new structures, with the number of MPs from different parties better reflecting the votes cast, would pave the way for co-operation and consensus on the country’s main challenges, the Manchester mayor suggests.
Instead, the current Conservative government was an example of paralysis and dysfunction, in which the ruling party sought division with its opponents in a desperate effort to stay in power, rather than focus on national problems. urgent matters affecting the British people.
“Just when we needed an adult government, we had one that didn’t govern, but campaigns for its own survival, igniting divisions and starting fights,” Burnham writes.
There was a need for a spirit of cooperation on issues such as housing, social care and public services, with the same urgency as after the Second World War.
Burnham adds: “My principle for 10 would be: good housing as a human right in UK law and a major council housing construction program to make it a reality; a higher basic minimum income for all and an end to job insecurity; social care in terms of the NHS and a substantial increase in mental health spending: and the renationalisation of the railway and the re-regulation of bus services.
“Whatever the precise 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 public relations for the Westminster election, although several motions on the issue will be tabled at the party conference in September. The country’s largest union, Unison, has recently backed public relations for the Westminster election at its annual conference, a move welcomed by electoral reform activists as a “huge boost”.