It’s rare that a politician comes to power without being bound by some kind of manifesto. And yet, that’s exactly the position that the UK’s latest PM, Andy Burnham, finds himself in. Some may say that puts him in a bad position and that he lacks a mandate for change. For what it’s worth, I think that’s definitely true. But it also leaves him with a blank page from which to design policy. It’s been more than a decade since
A late family friend named Martin, whom I once asked what he thought of a mutual acquaintance said: “I don’t know; I haven’t formed an opinion yet.” How long had he known this person? Twenty years. Well, almost ten years after the UK voted to leave the EU, I find I still haven’t really formed a strong opinion about the impact that Brexit has had. It’s not that I haven’t thought about it. It’s that a couple of other things
I was stuffing an election leaflet through a letterbox in my council ward this week when a burly man stopped to chat. He told me he was a Reform voter, and pointed out his house down the street, decorated with Union Jack bunting. He complained that Reform was painted as a racist party, and said that as his adopted brother was Black he could not be a racist. We agreed it was important to listen to other people’s viewpoints. As