𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

There are plenty of reasons why the Mayor of Greater Manchester would flop in Number 10. The more I watch him, the more he looks like Keir Starmer Mark II. Both men are weather vanes who swing with the prevailing political wind. Both pretend to be conviction politicians, but really believe in one thing above all else. Power. For themselves. To get it, they’re perfectly happy to sound left-wing one minute and right-wing the next. And they can flip-flop without blushing, or even expecting people to notice.

Starmer is undisputed king of the U-turn, but Burnham is proving a quick learner. Like Starmer, he backed trans ideology over biological women’s rights, until he didn’t. Like Starmer, he says he’ll respect Brexit while creeping ever closer to the EU. Like Starmer, he promises iron fiscal discipline while hinting at huge spending commitments. In power, Burnham would cave in to Labour’s hard left exactly as Starmer has. That means yet more taxes, more spending, more trade union power, more nationalisation and more state control over everyday life.

The only real difference is that Burnham communicates better than Starmer. Although, frankly, that’s not difficult.

But recently Burnham gave the game away with one single word. A word that tells us exactly where his instincts lie, and exactly why Britain should worry. The word is “neoliberalism”. And I hate it more than any word in the political lexicon. Here’s why.

Most normal people do not use this word. Nobody says it down the pub, unless they’re wearing a Che Guevara badge. And quite right too.

“Neoliberalism” is the Left’s favourite insult for free-market capitalism. They use it to attack free enterprise, deregulation, privatisation and the idea that businesses, rather than the state, create prosperity. Jeremy Corbyn couldn’t open his mouth without it spilling out. Green Party leader Zack Polanski and Your Party’s Zarah Sultana love it too. It’s a sickness across the left.

The hard-left loves its jargon, throwing around lingo like neo-conservative, crypto-fascist, quasi-feudal or far right-adjacent. It makes activists feel clever while ordinary people wonder what on earth they’re talking about. And that’s the point. These words act as political code. They tell other left-wing activists: “I am one of you.”

Student radicals, socialist ranters and Marxist academics use “neoliberalism” as shorthand for everything they hate about the modern economy. Growth. Profit. Business. Markets. Aspiration. Success. And now Burnham is pandering to them.

In a recent speech, he attacked “40 years of neoliberalism that have not been kind to the north of England”. Yes, the north has struggled since the 1980s. It’s the biggest black mark on Margaret Thatcher’s record. The issue is what Burnham thinks we should do about it.

Because whenever politicians attack “neoliberalism”, they’re blowing a dog whistle for the hard left. What follows are Marxist-adjacent policies that will destroy wealth rather than create it.

Burnham is talking enthusiastically about nationalisation. But it was a disaster in the 1970s, and would be a disaster today. Britain doesn’t have a spare £100billion to buy water companies, let alone invest in them afterwards. Burnham doesn’t care. He’s pitching directly to Labour activists, trade unions and the left, so he’s using their favourite buzzword. He’s telling his audience what they want to hear. He always does.

Here’s the reality. Britain desperately needs economic growth. And as former Labour PM Tony Blair has just pointed out, growth comes from businesses investing, taking risks and creating wealth.

Without that, there’s no money for public services, welfare or infrastructure. There’s only more borrowing, more debt and higher taxes. That is why this weird word matters. Because the moment a politician starts ranting about “neoliberalism”, what usually follows is an assault on the very system that pays the bills. No British PM worth their salt would use the word. Burnham just did. Watch out.