Andy Burnham Has Avoided Keir Starmer's Biggest Mistake | Anna Mikhailova

The fact that he has made lots of pledges in a complicated and lengthy leadership challenge is actually a big strength for him because he hasn't had to barter with people, he hasn't had to make compromises, which a lot of people see when they look at Keir Starmer's leadership. By this time next week, Britain will have a new prime minister. Under the current timetable, Andy Burnham will be going to the palace next Monday and will officially be the new prime minister taking over from Sir Keir Starmer. Anna Mihailova is Times Radio's political editor and joins us now. Good morning, Anna. Good morning, Kate. It's a bit of an odd situation this, isn't it, because we've got a new prime minister coming in, he's never had a manifesto or an election, and we could end up in a situation where he becomes prime minister and it's parliamentary recess. Yes, that is odd and obviously has been cause for concern but I don't think there's anything anyone's going to be able to do about it. I mean, there's a world in which the feeling inside Kent Burnham is that the fact that he hasn't had to announce a detailed policy platform, the fact that he has made lots of pledges in a complicated and lengthy leadership challenge is actually a big strength for him because he hasn't had to barter with people, he hasn't had to make compromises, which a lot of people see when they look at Keir Starmer's leadership. They say that, you know, the pledges he made during that first contest to be able to get the left of the party on side before then ditching those pledges was one of the first mistakes he made. So the feeling is that, you know, he is never going to be as strong as he is now. He's in a very strong position. He hasn't had to make those promises. And you say, Anna, that there's very little that people can do about that, that question of whether or not Andy Burnham would have to appear in Parliament. The Tories clearly think that they can do something about it. One Conservative MP is asking for parliamentary recess to be delayed. Is there any precedent for that happening? So I don't know at the moment what the state of talks are with Parliament because obviously that would have to be discussed with parliamentary authorities. I think realistically, there are very few people who expect that to go ahead, despite the Conservatives pushing for it. Yeah. And I think there are some concerns, aren't there, about whether or not that the team Burnham, as it were, is ready. I mean, we don't know very much about his Cabinet. There's been a lot of ambiguity about who he's going to appoint, especially when it comes to Chancellor. Do we know when we might hear who is in his top team? Yes. So we're going to hear about it next Monday when he officially becomes Prime Minister. That is the plan from the transition team. That team, in terms of access talks with the civil service that are ongoing and have been ongoing, that's being led by Louise Hague, the former Transport Secretary, who's played a key role with Andy Burnham. Also, James Purnell, who will be obviously taking a lead role within Downing Street, and Annelies Midgley, another senior MP within the team. So talks are ongoing, but Cabinet will not be announced until next Monday. And we're expecting all the main jobs to be announced on Monday. We are expecting, obviously, you know, the two big outstanding questions, as you suggested, is what does he do about Chancellor? And what also does he do about the energy brief? Because while those two questions are interrelated, if he doesn't choose Ed Miliband to be his Chancellor, does he leave him in energy? I mean, it's one of the biggest questions he's going to have to square. Does he continue with Ed Miliband's plan? Or does he do more in terms of oil and gas licenses, change of direction that a lot of people are calling for? And there are other questions about policy too. I mean, The Times is reporting that the Home Office is preparing to water down immigration policy ahead of his appointment. And there are other reports in other papers today about some changes which have been planned under Keir Starmer's government, but which are now on ice until maybe later on in the year. Is everything being seen through the prism of the new leader? And does that mean that even policies which are partway through may need to be reconsidered? I think everything is absolutely being seen through the prism of how will Andy Burnham look at it. In terms of what Shabana Mahmood is going to be talking about in the Commons and what MPs are going to be voting for, it's not going to, it's not affecting the substance of how today would have turned out because it's a vote on a bill. It's a very broad brush vote. The actual very tricky bits of what she's planning to do in terms of indefinite leave to remain, the most controversial parts of her reforms, these are not being voted on today. We will not know the detail of them until the autumn. So that would still have been the case. But for example, I know that Andy Burnham will be voting for the bill today. That will be seen as an endorsement of Shabana Mahmood and a signal to the backbenchers who are very nervous and some of whom were considering abstaining or possibly even voting against today. That will be a signal that they should back it at this stage as well. So I think that's the way things are. There's also some really interesting questions for Andy Burnham, given that he said he thinks the whipping operation should be done differently. So we'll find out more about that. Anna, just finally, what happens if England get to the final of the World Cup? Lots of people saying that we're counting our chickens, but if they do, will he be there? Well, listen, I mean, I think I've spent the morning answering six questions on this. Very interesting points. Now, I can confirm that the feeling in Downing Street is if Keir Starmer does go to the World Cup, as in if he has reason to, and we expect that he would if he did, that he would still fly back in time to keep the schedule on track with the King. So they wouldn't be moving the day of changing Prime Minister from Monday to Tuesday. He'd effectively probably take the red eye and get back in time. So I think that answers your question on that. The other one is, would Burnham go as well? Or is it one or the other? He'd have to be on the same red eye. So they could both go? Burnham so far has said that he'd be watching it from Makefield. Honest Andy, man of the people, pint and some rugby league and some pies. We'll see, Anna, we'll see. We'll see if we get to the final, if that changes. It'd be quite funny to think of them on the same flight together heading back to see the King, wouldn't it? Anna, great to have you back. Thanks, Kate. That is Anna Mahailova there, our political editor.