The following article by Eoin Ó Murchú was first published in Unity, the weekly paper of the Irish Communist Party.
THERE was widespread welcome among progressives in Ireland at the news that British prime minister, Keir Starmer, had bowed to the inevitable and had announced his resignation.
Starmer epitomised the worst of British Labour. He consistently put the interests of British capital ahead of those of the working people: cutting fuel benefits to pensioners, worsening social welfare entitlements, refusing to tax the rich, and, most of all, insisting on cutting welfare to promote expenditure on armaments and the delusion that Britain could be a world military power. He brazenly supported the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians, championed the continuation of the war against Russia that has been so disastrous for the people of Ukraine, and worked assiduously to bring Britain back into alignment with the European Union.
The intellectually bankrupt government in Dublin cheered on his attempt to realign with the EU, refused to challenge Westminster's rejection of working for Irish unity or even providing the North with adequate resources to meet the needs of the Irish people there.
So, it's good to see Starmer gone. But will Burnham be any different?
The record doesn't inspire any hope. Burnham has appointed the old Blair gang to be his chief advisers, those who call for less welfare to pay for more warfare: Andy Haldane, a former Bank of England chief economist, Richard Hughes, a former chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility and Jim O'Neill, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management who calls welfare recipients 'spongers'.
Burnham himself is a former stalwart of Labour Friends of Israel, and his newly appointed Chief of Staff, James Purnell, is not only a supporter of Israel but an adviser to water privatisation companies.
Burnham, in outlining his approach to government, has been determined to "reassure" the markets, has refused to call out the Israeli genocide, and has loudly proclaimed his intention to significantly increase 'defence' spending, that is spending on war.
He is fully behind the European NATO campaign of confronting Russia militarily, despite the growing dangers that this escalation could spiral out of control and end in the catastrophe of nuclear war.
Some commentators have suggested that, because of his Irish ancestry and his upbringing as a Catholic, he will be more favourable to the idea of Irish unity. But, as Paul O'Brien clearly explains, in an article in the Morning Star, there is nothing in his record to suggest he is remotely interested in any such approach. (https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/what-would-andy-burnham-premiership-mean-ireland).
He talks about investing in jobs, but this is impossible unless he rejects the fiscal approach adopted by Starmer, and he is at pains to 'reassure the markets' that this is something he will not do. Unlike the Dublin government, Burnham does realise that attempting to rejoin the EU would be suicidal for British Labour. But he will work, behind the scenes, to lay the basis for that.
The idea that Reform can be kept out of office by failing to reindustrialise the Red Wall and by urging EU realignment in areas which heavily voted Brexit is beyond absurd.
Unless Irish progressives can make common cause with our British counterparts to reject the imperialist and pro-capitalist delusion that Burnham stands for, we can expect a continuation of the underfunding of the North, and a promotion of a war policy that given Dublin's effective abandonment of neutrality will ensure that all of Ireland will be at risk.
Burnham is no saviour from on high who will deliver us from the cancer of Starmerism. He is the continuity candidate, who speaks more nicely and will verbalise on behalf of the working class while he pursues policies that entrench capitalist exploitation.
This is the cul de sac that British politics have left us in Ireland, North and South, floundering in.