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JOHN Swinney was the only living politician from a rival party mentioned in Andy Burnham’s keynote speech at Labour conference.
The other was Margaret Thatcher, of course, and the Prime Minister railed against her “flawed thinking” which for him has defined the last 40 years.
Swinney was at the receiving end of criticism that was arguably even more stinging .
“On the day my dad died,” said Burnham. “The Scottish First Minister said I would be the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.”
He said that he quoted that “not to seek sympathy” and nor to criticise Swinney, admitting: “I don’t think he knew the news at the time.”
Instead the Prime Minister said he brought up the coincidence “because I want you to know how it made me feel”, adding: “Utterly determined to prove him wrong.”
Burnham himself acknowledged that it was a coincidence, so why bring it up? It added some gravitas to his declaration that the UK was “something worth saving, worth fighting for”.
As a piece of political theatre, there will be some who found it affecting but I would bet there will be as many if not more who found it a bit below the belt.
If that part was cynical, there was also something strange about watching Burnham put forward a controversial policy offering that will not come to fruition unless Labour win the next election.
He set out major commitments for Labour’s next manifesto, which include ending the pension triple lock as we know it to fund a new National Care Service as well as the promise of electoral reform.
The first of these will be Labour’s big offer to the electorate when the UK next goes to the polls in 2029.
The second of these is a sweetener for wavering SNP and Green voters who could be persuaded to back Labour again to effect profound political change.
These are risky proposals for Burnham. Fiddling with pensions, even in pursuit of fixing the care system, is a fraught business.
When the question was polled earlier this year , only 26% of people said they would support changes with 37% against and 36% unsure.
Older people are famously most likely to vote and are overwhelmingly for the pension status quo with 70% in favour of retaining the triple lock.
But Burnham clearly thinks that by linking it to social care reform, of a scale he promised would be on par with the creation of the NHS, he can win the argument.
The plan for electoral reform also carries danger and Burnham will remember the resounding defeat of the Alternative Vote campaign in 2011.
These, however, are problems for Burnham in the future. His speech gave us plenty to consider at the next election but far less for the immediate future.
There is some fiddling on things like leasehold and water companies that only apply to England but otherwise, Burnham failed to set out an agenda for the next two years that will keep him especially busy.
Therein lies the biggest threat. Burnham wants to be known as a great reforming Prime Minister but that reputation has been staked on the outcome of the next election.
For the next two years, Burnham will look as idle as his predecessor. That is an awfully long time for the public to decide they are fed up with him.
