... and it didn't end well.
"Manchesterism" - not to be confused with Manchester Liberalism - is intended to mean something easily grasped for political purposes: greater interventionism at the civic level. This is supposed, a priori, to have obvious benefits yielding excellent results. Well, maybe, sometimes. The ideal degree of devolution is as long as a piece of string: how many Scots feel their once vaunted education system, or the Welsh their vaunted health service, have benefitted from greater devolved control? Objectively, the results suggest otherwise. And the ludicrous Rebecca Long-Bailey's equally ludicrous 2019 Labour manifesto plans for ultra-devolution of the energy industry (down to the level of units of "around 200 households" owning their own local energy infrastructure) provide the reductio ad absurdum of
And there are reasons to think that Burnham's model isn't what it's thought to be: that he's basically encouraged commercial property development on a significant scale, which can't easily be replicated across the nations. A glance at the pages of every issue of Private Eye and its years-long revelations of naked, industrial-scale corruption on Teesside for the personal benefit of a very small number of individuals, shows that local devolved powers can end up being shockingly abused.
But there's another factor. Remember how Neville Chamberlain came to Westminster as the dynastic hereditary king of Birmingham, with municipalism in that other great city as his calling card. He didn't do so well in the corridors of Whitehall - or of Bad Godersberg and Munich (notwithstanding some recent revisionist versions of events there). Maybe in other nations there is a wothwhile tradition of fine presidents and prime ministers coming up the local government / Big City Mayoral route. But not around these parts.
Do we see any signs that Andy is up to the bigger job? Municipalism is not enough, Mr Burnham.
ND
The Aldermen of the old Manchester Corporation would have considered Burnham's achievements as pretty small beer.
ReplyDeleteI'd be more impressed by Bradfordism under Alderman Foodbotham, Perpetual Chairman of the Tramways and Fine Arts Committee.
ReplyDeleteHis success depends on who has around him, in Manchester most of the hard yards were done by Bernstein and Leese, Burnham was very much the face, and even then it wasn't without issue with the Clean Air farrago. It's only of late the signs have been removed.
ReplyDeleteHe's been caught out repeatedly when under pressure, as his previous tilts at leadership have shown, has little time for the details, which is where are the devils that can destroy him will reside, and which Streeting will be taking note of.
I cannot see him being taken seriously on the world stage, so maybe he'll do well here, and the supposed plan to pop Starmer in a different kind of FO than he usually gets told, might mitigate that.
Odds are not good he'll do well, and he's just another flavour of the Johnson/Starmer power-for-powers-sake brigade, so let's see. He's more personable and capable that Starmer, so maybe the honeymoon period will stretch to crimbo, but not much further I suspect.
The "Bee Network" requires massive subsidies, EV contracts were "awarded" to a company fronted by his wife, loans given out for commercial development with no due diligence.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the typical Leftist playbook to me...
No-one seems to mention his glorious tenure as a junior Minister when confronted by the Mid-Staffs NHS scandal. I presume it didn't cross his desk?
ReplyDeleteWho's old enough to remember Alderman Andy Cunningham, King of the North East and maestro of corruption? According to Wokeypedia:
ReplyDeleteAndrew Cunningham (8 June 1910 – 14 June 2010) was a political figure and union leader in North East England. Born in Durham, he was jailed for his role in the Poulson scandal of 1974. He lived most of his life in Chester-le-Street.
At the height of his career in 1971 he held the following positions:
Member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party
Chairman of the Chester-le-Street and the Northern Region Executive of the Labour Party
Head of the Northern District of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers (NUGMW) (the biggest union in the north-east, succeeding John Yarwood MBE)
Alderman of Durham County Council
Member of the Chester-le-Street town council
Chairman of Durham Police Authority
Chairman of Newcastle Airport Consultative Committee
Member of the Northumbrian River Authority
Member of the Peterlee New Town Development Corporation
Member of the Tyneside Passenger Transport Authority
In student days I actually attended the trial for a couple of days at Leeds Crown Court.
DeleteBut some council corruption seems to have escaped justice, definitely easier in a "don't count votes, weigh them" area. Swansea comes to mind, and vast chunks of London of course.
Yes I remember Cunningham, a pal of T. Dan Smith and as bent as a nine-bob note. He managed to get one of the Tyne ferries named after his missus - the 'Freda Cunningham'; she was always breaking down (the ferry not the missus) and eventually had to be taken out of service.
ReplyDelete