There seems to be a mix of briefings going out suggesting Burnham will make Miliband the chancellor, keep Reeves to appease the bond markets, or tack further right and appoint Mahmood. It will be the first real signal of which version of Burnham we’re getting I guess.
Now is the perfect time to be testing his credentials, before a leadership contest gets underway. That’s the whole point, so party members and MPs can choose who best represents them. He keeps u-turning on everything and he’s veered towards the right during this campaign quite a lot, including going back on trans rights and endorsing the home secretary’s immigration reforms. I don’t think left-wing Labour members should just roll over and take it, especially anyone from the groups he’s willing to throw under the bus to gain power.
That Al Carns stuff they link to is just bizarre. “Make everything 10% better” is not a policy. And him talking about amending the legacy act to protect soldiers from being prosecuted for war crimes is sure one quick way to destroy friendly relations with Ireland after they’ve slowly improved over the past two years. Saying it’s stuff they were “cleared for years ago” puts him well to the right of even David Cameron who apologised for the British army’s actions on Bloody Sunday. I don’t understand the establishment media’s obsession with glazing him constantly, he’s clearly a bit dim and very dangerous to put in power.