It's time for Andy Burnham to drop the pretence.
asserted
Burnham → drop → pretence
He does not have a ten-year plan for Britain.
asserted
He → have → Britain
Over the past week, Downing Street has been tying itself in knots as the Prime Minister's aides have struggled to sustain the fiction that he is on the brink of finally revealing his grand design for the nation.
asserted
he → tie → nation
No10 sources briefed over the weekend that Burnham's proposed strategy for the next decade had been downgraded to a 'high-level blueprint'.
asserted
strategy → brief → blueprint
Then Burnham revealed that the 'blueprint', supposedly scheduled for publication next month, was now being kicked into the New Year.
asserted
blueprint → reveal → Year
Yesterday, as Labour was confronted with the charge that it didn't have a clue what it was doing, Burnham's team hastily announced it would be published before the House rises for the Christmas recess.
asserted
House → confront → recess
They needn't have bothered.
asserted
They → bother → ?
The PM and his aides genuinely don't know what they're doing – and everyone inside government knows it.
asserted
everyone → know → it
'There isn't any clear strategy,' one minister conceded to me.
asserted
minister → be → me
'They're still trying to find their feet.
asserted
They → try → feet
But the idea that there's some grand plan that's been mapped out is just spin.
asserted
that → be → ?
It's all a bit chaotic.'
A second minister agreed.
asserted
minister → agree → ?
'There are lots of people inside No10 scrabbling around trying to make this ten-year plan real,' they told me.
asserted
they → be → me
'But the problem is that they can't get Andy to take a clear decision on any of the fundamental issues.
asserted
Andy → get → issues
And that's being exacerbated by the fact that they're trying to do all this whilst they're still building up the team.
asserted
they → exacerbate → team
So nobody has anything to lean on.
asserted
nobody → have → anything
They're all still trying to get to know one another.
asserted
They → try → one
And they're all still trying to get to know Andy himself.
asserted
they → try → Andy
No10 sources briefed over the weekend that Burnham's proposed strategy for the next decade had been downgraded to a 'high-level blueprint'
The extent of this dysfunctionality is evident in key policy areas.
asserted
extent → brief → areas
Inside the Cabinet, rifts are already starting to appear over what is seen as Labour's increasingly chaotic messaging over Brexit.
asserted
what → start → Brexit
During the weekend media round, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy issued a thinly veiled warning: 'I do not believe that anybody wants to repeat circular arguments about in or out, leave or remain.
asserted
anybody → issue → arguments
Yet that is precisely what Burnham has done with his recent declaration that everything, including a full-scale reintegration with the EU, is back on the table.
asserted
everything → do → table
Another example of the policy confusion relates to welfare.
asserted
example → relate → welfare
Within the Cabinet there is a consensus that despite Keir Starmer's humiliating – and fatal – retreat over reform last year, cuts in the burgeoning bill are going to have to be found.
asserted
cuts → be → bill
Senior ministers believed the Prime Minister concurred.
asserted
Minister → believe → ?
But then, last week, he announced spending would have to rise before it could fall.
uncertain
it → announce → ?
'Of course, in time, the savings will come and there will be a crossover point', he explained.
asserted
he → come → time
It's the right investment to make.'
asserted
It → make → ?
Again, there is a strong belief within the Cabinet that the nettle will have to be grasped and that a commitment to increasing spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030 will have to be made.
asserted
commitment → be → 2030
And again, senior ministers believed Andy Burnham agreed with them.
asserted
Burnham → believe → them
But efforts to get a clear decision from No10 on where the money will come from – and what savings from other budgets will need to be found to finance the increase – are currently meeting a brick wall.
asserted
savings → get → wall
'I thought we had Andy lined up.
asserted
Andy → think → ?
Then we had that line about social security being as important as national security.
asserted
security → have → security
So I've no idea where we are any more', another minister laments.
asserted
minister → lament → idea
Until now, Burnham's vacillation in these vital policy areas has been framed as shrewd political tradecraft.
asserted
vacillation → frame → tradecraft
By leaving his options open, he has kept his opponents guessing while allowing himself to be presented as a pragmatist who is addressing the great issues of the day via a healthy dose of northern common sense.
asserted
who → leave → sense
But as the deadline for the publication of the vaunted ten-year plan has approached, a different reality has emerged: the Prime Minister still hasn't made up his mind what that plan should be.
asserted
plan → approach → mind
We have seen this already with both his party conference speech and the Budget.
asserted
We → see → speech
In Liverpool, he momentarily seized the political agenda with two bold announcements on pensions and social care.
asserted
he → seize → pensions
But pressed on the specifics, his brave vision dissipated.
asserted
vision → press → specifics
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
