Andy Burnham is in a dither. He has promised to end factionalism in the Labour Party, but the mother of all faction fights has already broken out over his choice of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Or rather his lack of one. Meanwhile, he has insulated himself from scrutiny by issuing a fog of clichés and generalities. It won’t do.
The left of the Labour Party, and some on the right like the former Blair aide John McTernan, are refusing to accept that the Home Secretary, Shabanah Mahmood, is the right person for the job of Chancellor. There has been intense speculation that she very definitely is the Prime Minister’s choice.
Various ministers and Labour MPs have been briefing the press about her lack of qualifications and economic nous. Actually, Mahmood worked in the Labour Treasury team in opposition under Ed Balls pre-2015, so she isn’t a complete “economic blank space”. as anonymous Labour ministers have described her It’s just that she is not a climate change ideologue.
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