Burnham ‘fantastic news for Scotland’
Andy Burnham became new prime minister of the United Kingdom just about four weeks ago, and I strongly consider this new change in direction to be a hugely welcome one.
In the space of just a decade, things have been incredibly difficult and unpleasant for everybody living in Britain.
Since 2016, this country has experienced the chaos and confusion of Brexit, the division and misery right across the globe caused by two Donald Trump presidencies in the United States, the devastation of the mass casualties, and harsh lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the painful cost-of-living crisis caused by repeated instances of conflict in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
In all this time, we have seen unprecedentedly high levels of instability, uncertainty, mismanagement, poorer social and economic outcomes for the UK, and an insane volume of ministerial and prime ministerial turnovers.
This all makes it easy to see why things have declined and deteriorated so considerably for the whole of the UK throughout the past decade.
Now, though, I am currently feeling very hopeful and optimistic about our general direction and situation in the UK for the first time in at least ten years, and it’s entirely because of how well Andy Burnham is doing as our new prime minister.
Whilst I have never been a fan of the Labour Party, and I still remain a strong supporter of the Liberal Democrats, I am currently very impressed with the way in which this Labour leader is performing in his new role.
Andy Burnham has made real strides to improve the lives of people up and down the country. In one of his first moves as prime minister, he announced that VAT will be cut from household electricity bills, as part of his pledge to help with the cost of living. This makes electricity bills five per cent cheaper.
Since the North of Scotland has, by far, the highest energy costs in the whole of the UK, Burnham’s very smart decision-making will likely help the Northern Isles the most.
It was very good to see the £2 bus fare cap being reinstated after Keir Starmer’s government changed it from a £2 fare cap to a £3 fare cap. It is also very welcome to see Burnham announcing that the UK Government will be giving a 20 per cent cut to the business rates of pubs and clubs in England.
Furthermore, I am really pleased to see that Burnham has announced plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea after he became prime minister.
Allowing fields such as Rosebank, Cambo, and Jackdaw would provide a huge economic and societal advantage to Scotland’s economy. I think that it would especially benefit us here in Shetland, since all of them are relatively close to the Northern Isles.
I strongly believe that the Scottish Government should follow suit and finally copy Burnham’s decision-making on reducing business rates for hospitality venues, since they already have the powers to implement these changes themselves, but still haven’t done so yet.
This is the very real and clear difference it makes to have a government that is on Scotland’s side and thoroughly proves their dedication to making everybody’s lives better, instead of just claiming to be on Scotland’s side.
Having Andy Burnham as our new prime minister has already proven to be fantastic news for Scotland.
Because of him, we’re already receiving commitments to finally see some lower energy costs with the removal of VAT from electricity bills. This is alongside the potential for more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea and the creation of more jobs that would accompany this hugely welcomed policy change, as well as a completely ironclad commitment to strongly oppose any future referendum on Scottish independence.
The very last thing we need in challenging and turbulent times such as these is to have to experience the sheer annoyance of being distracted by divisive and distracting constitutional arguments. This question has already been obviously settled by the decisive ‘No’ vote in 2014 in the ‘once in a generation’ referendum that took place then.
It is now very clear that Andy Burnham has done a far better job of governing in the space of just 20 days than John Swinney has in the space of 20 years.
All the more reason, I think, for Scotland to stay in a stronger and more successful United Kingdom where we all stand together, for the sake of a much better future.
Bertie Summers
Former MSYP for Shetland
