Watching Andy Burnham in Manchester, dressed in his T-shirt and jacket and pronouncing the return of a more old-fashioned, pro-worker left, I had a sense of déjà vu. I had seen this movie before, but with different accents. For the politician Burnham obviously resembles is not British at all – it is Joe Biden.

Just like Biden, Andy Burnham’s self-image is based on the idea that those on the left are the tribunes of ordinary working people, not progressive elites. Like Joe Biden, Andy Burnham is a provincial throwback to an earlier time, just from the North West, not the Midwest. Just like Biden, Burnham rails against the ‘neoliberal’ changes of the 1980s, which he blames for the economic problems of today. Burnham’s idea of a reindustrialised Britain copies Joe Biden’s 2021 infrastructure and regional growth push. And like Joe Biden, Andy Burnham wants to transcend the unpopularity of progressive realities – from rapid decarbonisation to mass immigration – not by reversing these agendas, but by shifting the political debate to areas more favourable to the left.

Just like Biden, Andy Burnham’s self-image is based on the idea that those on the left are the tribunes of ordinary working people

Just like Biden, Andy Burnham’s........

© The Spectator