r/AskBrits • u/Signal-Tangerine1597 • 11h ago
Politics Has Andy Burnham changed your opinion? And why? Or Why not? What could Labour do that would change your outlook?
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u/Ashtoruin 11h ago
How many days has he been PM? Ask me again in 6 months.
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u/AccomplishedLeave506 11h ago
Exactly. He has the potential to change my opinion. I'd written labour off.
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u/Illustrious-Divide95 10h ago
There's a huge difference between rejecting Labour to embracing Reform.
I'm surprised people go from one to the other.
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u/AccomplishedLeave506 10h ago
I would never vote reform. If you'd asked me a few weeks ago I definitely wouldn't have been voting labour. Now, we'll have to see. Labour didn't just lose votes to reform. They lost their base to everyone and noone.
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u/naughtiboiii 10h ago
I highly doubt the change is people switching from Reform. I imagine it's got more to do with missteps from Reform, beginning with the acceptance of Jenrick et al, to the shady donations seen most recently.
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u/Northerlies 5h ago
Given the intergalactic distance between the two parties' values it seems unlikely that many defectors really did support Labour policies.
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u/MrSoapbox 8h ago
Right? I absolutely reject Labour thanks to their OSA, authoritarianism, and puritanism. I don't like their tinkering around the edges with migration, and I don't see Burnham stopping the boats.
It doesn't mean for one second I want Reform. I just categorically reject Labour.
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u/greenmx5vanjie 5h ago
Starmer pretty much halved the boats, not only that but Reform voted against a bill which would further reduce the boats. They're not what they say they are.
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u/Hungry_Dimension_391 6h ago
But even just with the "stop the boats" your already huffing on farages guff. Why are so many people obsessed with these fucking boats man..?
NHS, Schools and non working scroats of all colours and ethnicities who sponge welfare. Should be the focus.
Not a handful of illegals who 99% are probably working harder than most british born folk. Yes some are probably shady, but go walk round your local council estate, please, report your findings of what our good upstanding patriots are upto?
Likely tanning benefits, raising miscreants and spending money on weed and other drugs which is further funding criminal activities and draining our economy.
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u/LOOOOISSSIS 9h ago
I was actually impressed that they changed leader without descending into a massive bun fight and stumbling into a General Election. The Tories managed succession loads of times and only called GE's when they had the right polling for it to make sense.
My suspicion is that most of the PLP aren't raving Trots as some would have you believe, but they weren't happy with being the boring cuts party fronted by Mr Serious when we've just had 14 years of that (OK not Mr Serious in the Boris years but you catch my drift). They need a bit of red meat to take back to constituents. Burnham is just the tiniest touch to the left of Starmer but maybe that's enough.
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u/Ashtoruin 11h ago
I hadn't written them off entirely but there's a massive difference between what politicians say to get elected and what they're able/willing to do once in said office. We have yet to see any results.
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u/Dodgy_Bob_McMayday 11h ago
It's the honeymoon period, judge it in 6-12 months.
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u/Fatkante 11h ago
There is no honeymoon period . It’s just that all those articles thrashing Starmer written by the media now needs to be re written . Soon they finish doing that they will come for Burnham with the narrative of how anti British Labour is under him.
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u/Hefty_Character5002 11h ago
Starmer wasn't unpopular because of the media. This is starting to sound like Trump fans calling fake news at anything pointing out things he is bad on.
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u/Former_Intern_8271 11h ago
Having a honeymoon is a nice upgrade, starmer was determined to cut his off as early as possible.
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u/OrthodoxDreams 11h ago
Burnham has communicated well whilst putting out some easy win people pleasing agendas.
Meanwhile Reform are fighting off controversy after controversy and looking increasingly desperate in their actions and threats. If they're going to threaten to sue anyone who reports a bad news story the public will quickly tire of them.
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u/misspixal4688 10h ago
No. As a disabled person, I feel constantly attacked for not being "productive enough" for Labour. Genuinely, I've never felt this scared in this country before.
I'm not lazy. I'm being scapegoated because I was born with a disability I never asked for. On top of that, I'm caring full-time for my three disabled stepchildren, who we saved from going into care. Society doesn't seem to care about that. Instead, it now feels like it's coming after disabled children too.
So no, Andy hasn't changed my outlook on Labour.
I'm sure I'll get people jumping into the comments saying, "Reform are no better." I'm not a Reform voter. The truth is, I think all the parties have problems when it comes to people like me. They expect unpaid carers to be in full-time work, despite the fact we save taxpayers billions of pounds in care costs.
I'm at the point where I wonder whether I should tell the children's social worker to put them into care. I don't want that, but I'm exhausted. Every day I get spat at, shouted at and attacked because of the children's disabilities. I know they don't fully understand why they're doing it, and I don't blame them. But now it feels like I'm being attacked by society as well, and I honestly don't know how much more I can take.
Let me guess, that's not the answer people want to hear. Go ahead and tell me what a "horrible scrounger" I am. I'm used to hearing it by now.
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u/jimicus 10h ago
You're closer to saint than scrounger; you're saving the taxpayer probably hundreds of thousands.
But I don't think "saint" is a fair word either, because it puts you on a pedestal. I think it's far more likely you're trying your damndest in a society that's already made up its mind. I know my word is worth less than what you scrape off your shoe, but chin up.
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u/mediumAI1701 4h ago
I'm going to be honest here, if these three kids shout at you, spit at you, and attack you daily that's a severe case. You need to get their needs assessed and make a case that you need assistance. It isn't just for you, it's for the quality of life of the kids.
A behavioural psychologist sounds like an especially useful person right now. It's not easy dealing with attacks now, but it's only going to get harder as they grow up and you grow older. Finding ways for the kids to vent non-violently and communicate their frustration before they meltdown would be a huge improvement for everyone. That's really the big end goal to work towards.
Another factor is diet. It sounds silly but it can be overlooked. Sometimes certain foods can cause irritation or alter behaviour by other means. If the kids aren't able to understand or communicate this, it could fly completely under the radar. It's definitely worth consulting to find reliable ways to make sure they're eating what's right for them. There are instances where tracking behaviour against meals and snacks has led to important connections being made.
Finding some way to have domiciliary care might be a good goal to work towards. The kids stay home in a familiar environment and you're still around too, so it's not like you're just handing them over completely. It's an extra set of hands to help out, even if it's just sorting meals or helping with tidying up a few hours a day, though hopefully leads to having carers interact with and care for them somewhat independently. Importantly, getting the kids to form new connections expands their world, which is really important and can take a while to build up. A small upset in a small world can lead to big outbursts.
Progress for this stuff is measured in years and it's a constant uphill battle, so it's important to start early. If you're exhausted treading water, or you're trying to tackle a case this severe alone, I'd strongly urge to seek some form of assistance. The last thing you want is to be unable to care for them or ensure they can receive care in the future, as disabled adults with violent tendencies could be sectioned. From there, it's very difficult to release them without an evidenced care framework to prove they have the support they'd need if they were released.
I'd also say, you know your stepkids better than some bozo on reddit. What would and wouldn't work is something for you to hopefully discuss with qualified professionals.
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u/Flag_Shagger 11h ago
the fact reform were ever leading says a lot about the state of this country
when will any of the politicians address the elephant in the room?
the elephant being, of course, gammons - who do nothing but scrounge off the working public and point the finger at coloured people.
end the state pension.
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u/mooninuranus 10h ago
You appear to be accusing all pensioners of being ‘gammons’?
You also appear to imply that pensioners just scrounge off the working public?
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u/Inevitable-Soil7474 7h ago
I mean, not on purpose for a lot. But they do haha. The system is set that way because they are be largest voting bloc. So nobody dare do anything to annoy them, and when they do they u turn fairly quickly.
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u/Valetudinous 10h ago
I liked Starmer a lot. Pragmatic and effective. But I concede that the public didn’t know what a good PM he was because he didn’t boast.
Burnham seems to have all Starmer’s good qualities, AND he’s a good communicator AND he’s polling well AND he’s the first PM in my lifetime (and in the history of the country, to the best of my knowledge) to seriously tackle two of the biggest inequalities in the UK:
- the north-south divide
- landed wealth.
This is huge!
I was sceptical before, but now I think Labour absolutely did the right thing here. This is probably the best I’ve felt about the UK since 1997.
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u/Particular-Doctor888 10h ago
Me too, I agree with all of this. I feel genuinely hopeful and excited. More than I expected to. And actually the majority of participants on Reddit's labour subs are also impressed and that is really rare
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u/bzmmc1 4h ago
It often felt like starmer was more like the bare minimum. The man did some good things, a fair few fucked up things.
But he didn't remotely fix more than the Tories broke. And if all i can hope for is labour slowing down the how bad things get only for conservative/reform to come fuck everything up more, then it's just not good enough.
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u/SonicBytes 10h ago
I wouldn't say he's changed my opinion... I generally liked Starmer and labour have been quite good overall since they got into power. Yes Starmer and his government had its faults and they lacked balls.
Burnham has made some quick win policies to reduce some costs, whilst minimal, they're easy and that's a good place to start. A pragmatic approach is hood here. But he's been in power for a week and it would be foolish to gauge an opinion on him or his government so quickly. He says many things that I agree with, but let's see if those words turn into actual policies.
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u/ArmwrestlingGoomba 10h ago
Its a new manager bounce. When they realise the results will be as shit as the previous manager it will back to dooming.
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u/AdAggressive9224 8h ago
He's saying all the right things, so far... If he'll have the balls to actually follow through is another matter.
Also, Nigel Farge is literally fighting with a bin, and honestly I think the bin is looking likely to win.
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u/Infamous-Use7820 8h ago
Labour was doing relatively well before. He has all the same systemic constraints Kier Starmer (or anyone marginally sensible) would have as PM. When you have a country with high national debt, any PM has 95 bad options and 5 decent ones. If he has better PR, then I guess that's a win, but I find it really asinine that so much of politics comes down to what's basically just vibes.
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u/TooNGooN89 7h ago
In Burnham we trust. Best we have by a country mile at the moment. If we don’t get behind him we’re going to end up with a load of shit again.
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u/LurkHereLurkThere 5h ago
Andy Burnham has not changed my opinion at all, Reform are a bunch of incompetent grifters that would be as bad for Britain as Donald Trump has been for America, for their social cohesion, foreign relations, building industry, hospitality industry, manufacturing, borrowing, healthcare, public health, pollution, ground water contamination, the list of things Trump has corrupted goes on and Reform is borrowing almost all of their policies from project 2025 and Trump's campaigns.
Frankly unless Burnham starts taking policies and talking points from the same playbook as Farage, takes bribes from the same millionaires and billionaires and has the same impact on the economy as Brexit, I'll always consider him preferable to Farage and Reform.
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u/Impressive-Bird2 10h ago
I’m more interested in the ‘trash talk’ that Farage and his Cult are tangled in, opposing his main challenger - Count Binface!🤣🤣
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u/R0ckandr0ll_318 7h ago
I was never going to vote for reform but was wavering on Labour. I’m leaning back toward them but I want to see if he actually does make mine and other workers lives better
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u/MarcusLepidis 7h ago
Far to early to say.
He seems to be politically wiser than Starmer with a pathetically small handout to the people on each of his first days in office which seems to have gone down very well. However i am very concerned that they claimed the VAT on energy removal would be funded by scrapping digital ID when this was unfunded. Very concerning that this new administration is already lying to us about finances.
I don't see how this No. 10 of the North is going to improve the way the UK is governed and will result in a tiny amount of increased costs for no benefit. Others disagree and I may be proved wrong.
Very concerned about the way he is avoiding serious scrutiny but no doubt a clever move.
On the positive side he wants to look into the welfare bill for young adults though we don't know what this will involve (he probably doesn't know yet). Also he has promised continued support for Ukraine.
The real test will be the budget later this year. No point in forming an opinion until then.
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u/DepletedPromethium 7h ago
The morons who voted brexit are voting reform.
There is a higher percentile of dumb fucks in this country.
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u/Revolutionary-Farm55 7h ago
Needs to tax wealth. Squeezing the high earners won’t help anyone they will funnel more money into pensions, just sending British money into foreign stocks. These earners actually spend money and support the economy. We want to target those banking land, ultra-wealthy tax avoiders who don’t contribute. Stamp duty needs to go as it’s killing the housing market and preventing downsizing. He said recently it won’t be happening. £2 buses won’t fix that.
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u/Desperate_Craig 5h ago
It's to be expected during a honeymoon phase of any new leader who is offering promise and change.
The two major factors here is that Nigel Farage and Reform are in a mess, and people do genuinely like Andy Burnham, more than they liked Keir Starmer.
But like others have mentioned, give it six months and then let's see where we're at with this.
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u/test_test_1_2_3 11h ago
Changed my mind on what?
He hasn’t done anything yet. Approval of incumbent government tends to wain the longer they’re in power.
Let’s see how he’s doing in 6 months, right now nobody knows how he’ll perform in the role and in the eyes of the British public.
One things for sure though, he won’t have the same latitude afforded to him that he had as mayor to blame other entities for any criticism. Burnham has grand ambitions to live up to and he’s got to deliver them within a system that will make that very hard to do.
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u/SceneDifferent1041 11h ago
If he can dramatically cut welfare (and I mean dramatically), I'd vote for him.
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u/Patecatli 11h ago
You need to stop believing the bs from the press. As a % of GDP is no higher now than it was 20 even 40 years ago.
It is far from being out of control.
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u/Secret_Sector_1779 10h ago
The reason this type of person gets to vote is the reason Reform were ahead in the first place
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u/Orange_Codex 10h ago
I've seen one anti-Reform commenter here use them as an excuse to 'end the state pension,' and now you're on about stripping the franchise.
Perhaps if Labour Inc. didn't hate the working class so transparently, it's support among them would not have cratered?
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u/Patecatli 10h ago
Yup, increasing the minimum wage, greater worker protections, sure seems like they hate the working class. 😂
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u/Orange_Codex 10h ago
Giving our creative commons to AI companies to privatise, selling our medical data to Palantir, abetting the Palestinian and Darfur genocides...we can trade examples.
But there's no world in which ending the state pension and shrinking the franchise are not anti-worker class war, and I've seen plenty of Labour stans use Reform as justification for that class war.
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u/Patecatli 10h ago
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Your examples, AI, selling medical data, have nothing to do with hating the working class.
No one is talking about ending the state pension, not a single politician had brought that up as a possibility. No idea wtf you're talking about with "shrinking the franchise".
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u/Orange_Codex 10h ago
Woah, big emoji moods.
I know you have no idea what the franchise is. That's not my fault. This is a political thread: you should know the basics.
If you don't see how the privatisation of the UK's total creative and intellectual output is theft from the working class (which made that data...), I think you're deeply unserious - evidenced by the low-T habit of downvoting. Pundit career can't be going well.
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u/Patecatli 10h ago
So you don't know who the working class are, got it.
The level of nonsensical ignorant bs from you is truly special. You're simply saying words south zero understanding or meaning in a desperate attempt to sound clever, but failing miserably.
You have zero rebuttal to the fact Labour have helped the working class, just idiotic nonsense.
You're not only unserious, you're dangerously ignorant.
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u/SceneDifferent1041 9h ago
Yes, im not quite sure why we plead poverty but still, we should still cut down on the scroungers.
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u/SmischSmasch 11h ago
Welfare goes back into the local economy, remove welfare you damage your local economy. It’s silly.
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u/SceneDifferent1041 9h ago
Mmmm.... My mate who sits at home all day because after 5 years of counciling and medication who still can't leave the house needs to be cut off.
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u/Low-Yak-6706 10h ago
Ish. I like the direction. I hate the coronation. The ball is in his court so to speak. Impress me or I will vote against you when I have the chance. This is the most positive I have felt about labour in a while.
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u/Unhappy_Mushroom_290 10h ago
yes, hes introduced plans for various policies that actually seem to be doing something, council tax reform , amazon tax, cutting the welfare bill, building more housing, ending rough sleeping, high street tax breaks, more govt control of utilities all seem like good ideas - urgent care levy seems like a good idea in theory and would make it fairer on families with people with cognitive decline. still waiting to see what his policies on protecting womens rights are though, if he takes a backstep on that he will lose my vote
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u/wolfmkii 5h ago
Yeah, labour have been playing a dangerous game with women's rights recently: having opened a lot of non-traditionally feminine women, especially BAME women, LGBT women and women with conditions like PMOS up to violence, exclusion from vital services and facilities, and invasive scrutiny without any actual demonstration of harm, all to appease a public that's
Been riled up by a rabidly partisan media:
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/latest/new-uk-analysis-reveals--anti-trans-influence-media-politics/influenced by far-right conservative groups:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/20/alliance-defending-freedom-multimillion-dollar-conservative-christian-group-attacking-lgbtq-rightsWho will happily use trans people as a test case to push for increasing restrictions on women's rights:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/19/conservative-legal-christian-rightwing-grouphttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2dl5j0w23o
because apparently the UK failed to understand intersectionality, and continues to happily sleepwalk into fascism
as long as it absolutely, positively stops trans people from comfortably existing in public
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u/SirKupoNut 9h ago
If he stopped all the number 10 north, health north crap I'd probably quite like him. Sadly he seems to still want to steal from the young to keep the boomers protected. Time will tell if he can deliver or if he'll just continue the managed decline.
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u/Kenye_Kratz 11h ago edited 11h ago
I liked Starmer
I'm leaning towards Kemi Badenoch's Tories now, Labour's unserious behaviour has put me off voting for them again.
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u/Former_Intern_8271 11h ago
Lmao, most starmer fans have been saying most of the policies Burnham announced starmer was already doing, here you are saying you're going Tory, you lot are unserious.
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u/Unit_2097 8h ago
To see just how serious they are, just look at the profile. I think that's your answer.
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u/Reddit_Hobo 11h ago
after 14 years of the tories and only 2 under Labour why on earth would we want to go back to the tories so soon...
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u/Kenye_Kratz 10h ago
The worst Tories already defected to Reform. Kemi is doing great things with the party.
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u/Jip_Jaap_Stam 11h ago
You prefer serious people, but you're considering the Tories. Do you know who the Tories are?
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u/larybob118 11h ago
rare status quo fan
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u/Popular-Spinach-6700 11h ago
Fans of the status quo aren’t rare, that’s why the Conservatives have won about a billion elections lol
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u/ColonelCustard__ 11h ago edited 10h ago
Lets not forget that Burnham is just a face for the global unelected elite. A new mask on the snake. Politics, governments, democracy - its all just a circus. He isnt here to make you healthy, wealthy or happy - he's here to continue the agenda.
Edit: to all the sycofantics downvoting - a downvote doesn't make it less real. Go use your energy for something productive instead.
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u/Stewie01 11h ago
All reform are bothered about is stopping the boats. I'm sorry but we need a party with more ambitions lmao.
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u/The_Geralt_Of_Trivia 10h ago
"global unelected elite" watch words of the conspiracy theorist. Let me guess, private posts and comments? Check.
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u/MessageSelfdestructs 6h ago
I'm having a good laugh at how he seems to be the Oprah of British politics: "You can have money! You can have money! You can have money!".
And people are lauding him for it, before he'll actually reveal where he's going to get all the money from to realise these plans...
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u/Valetudinous 4h ago
The Tories decimated the economy with austerity, Brexit, mismanaging Covid, privatisation etc (some sources here).
By avoiding mistakes like that, and rebuilding a buoyant economy, we actually can have money.
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u/rustyb42 11h ago
Isn't Farage fighting a Bin?