Burnham calls for honesty then sticks his head in the sand

Andy Burnham proclaimed on this week that "change begins with honesty." One might have hoped the new Prime Minister would offer some hard truths. However, the honesty Burnham espoused was more "his truth" than "the truth." According to the report, all the nation's woes were attributed to Thatcher and Brexit, while the former looms over us and the latter has shattered our future.

Watching his first Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) performance, it was difficult not to notice a contradiction in Burnham's demeanor. He frequently presents himself as a reasonable individual focused on problem-solving rather than scoring points. However, Kemi Badenoch discovered this approach makes it difficult to land a blow.

Every time she attempted to challenge him, he deftly avoided her and offered a courteous bow. How frustrating! This deeply ideological man, whose sole purpose in taking power was to "end 40 years of neoliberalism," fails to engage in argumentation. Despite his claims of hope, optimism, and economic growth, he fails to acknowledge interest rate hike warnings, the scale of our debt, or the cost of servicing it.

He pays lip service to fiscal responsibility but then instructs his Chancellor to bend fiscal rules for additional borrowing. The bond market can observe what Burnham refuses to acknowledge – he is more concerned with restructuring local government and hosting devolution summits in his residence than confronting core economic realities.

The public cannot afford their current commitments, whether the triple lock on the state pension, unfunded public sector pension liabilities, or the current trajectory of NHS spending. Furthermore, funding his ideological pursuit for more "public control" of water, energy, transport, and housing is also beyond their means. Burnham continued to tell MPs that his growth plan was "credible," but the bond market sees what he refuses to acknowledge: that credibility demands more than rhetoric and ambition; it requires discipline, details, and - above all - honesty.

My primary concern is that when he is finally forced to be honest with the public, his only response will be tax hikes, leading to ruin.