Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has emphasized that the government must have a clear strategy moving forward. Her comments come just hours after the Makerfield by-election was confirmed for June 18, with Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham set to stand for Labour. Burnham is widely tipped to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the party leadership if he secures a return to Parliament.
Thornberry's Call for a Plan
Speaking to reporters, Thornberry stated: “Well, look, the work needs doing. We needed to have the plan. We do have it in some things, so on green energy Ed Miliband had a plan. But he was given the latitude to be able to develop that. I know that there were other people, including myself, frankly, who had other things that we wanted to put into a plan, but it was held back because it was like, ‘hang on a minute, it’s probably better to leave it vague so that we don’t alienate people’.”
She added: “We’ve all got ideas. I’ve got a list. Everybody’s got a list. There’s more that we could do. And then we need to pull it together. Whoever is the leader, we have to have a plan.”
Burnham on Accountability
In an interview with the i Paper, Andy Burnham criticized the British state’s failure to hold individuals accountable. “This is sadly the bit – the accountability bit – that the British state still can’t do. Obviously, that was the case with Hillsborough. Ninety-seven people unlawfully killed, with one minor conviction against an individual and nothing else. Again, in the case of infected blood and the lies told. Terrible injustice in terms of the pervasive nature of the cover-up, and yet, again seemingly there is no culpability.”
He continued: “You can’t have faith in politics and Government unless there’s real accountability, and the lack of it is dangerous. For the way the country is run and the way people feel about things. Yeah, we all want to feel good about the country – patriotic – and yet it lets people down and it’s not healthy.”
By-Election Significance
In a campaign video, Burnham described the by-election as crucial: “Some say this by-election is unnecessary. I say it’s the most consequential of our lives.”
