Political reporter

LABOUR’S left laid down the changes the government must make as Andy Burnham stands poised to become prime minister.

In a statement yesterday the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs (SCG) spelt out a new programme including a wealth tax, public ownership of key utilities, further action on workers’ rights and sanctions on Israel.

The move by left MPs will come as a counter-balance to growing pressure from the party’s right-wing to shape Mr Burnham’s agenda.

Former Blairite minister James Purnell has been named as his chief of staff, with disgraced ex-Labour Together boss Josh Simons, who quit Makerfield to allow Mr Burnham to return to the Commons, in a key policy role.

Sir Keir Starmer’s chief secretary Darren Jones abandoned his quixotic bid to contest the leadership against Mr Burnham, but not before extracting commitments at a meeting with the premier-in-waiting which he said would reassure the bond market.

All this heightened fears that the new regime may follow the same policy lines as the old one — “Starmerism with added affability” as one MP put it to the Star.

The SCG hope to build broad support behind their policy platform, although they will not be fielding their own candidate against Mr Burnham.

No left candidate could hope to secure the support of the 81 Labour MPs necessary to go forward in the ballot.

The SCG statement said: “Just two years after the general election, Labour has squandered much of the hope people invested in us to deliver real change. 

“Too many people who once voted Labour no longer feel the party stands for them or reflects their values. 

“Unless Labour changes course quickly, not only is the very survival of the party at stake, but we also risk paving the way for a Trump-style far-right government.

“A change of Labour leadership will happen soon, but that alone will not be enough. Labour needs a fundamental change of direction.

“Labour’s renewal must begin with a recognition that Britain faces a deep crisis caused by a rigged economic model that has transferred vast amounts of wealth and power to the super-rich while leaving millions struggling. 

“Polls show that a bold economic programme is the best way of winning back voters from across the spectrum, including those who back the Greens and other progressive parties as well as some who have moved to Reform.

“The deep structural changes needed to reverse over 40 years of neoliberalism cannot be achieved overnight but Labour, under a new leader, must show it understands the scale of the challenge and take immediate bold steps to win back support.”

Specific policy proposals advanced by the group include a 2 per cent levy on assets worth more than £10 million; windfall taxes on sectors making unearned “super-profits,” including the banking sector; nationalising water and energy, getting Palantir out of the NHS and implementing plans for a national care service.

The group is also calling for emergency cost-of-living action, including a genuine freeze on energy bills, universal free school meals and the expansion of affordable public transport.

It demands a further employment rights act, rent controls and a major council house-building programme, as well as scrapping Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s plans to double the time migrant workers need to secure settled status.

The statement opposes new oil and gas licences and wants sanctions on Israel, including a total ban on goods produced in illegal settlements. It backs reversing the anti-democratic changes made to the party itself under Sir Keir.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak has also called for a policy reset, including a 100-day programme for Mr Burnham involving a wealth tax, equalising capital gains and income taxes; a social energy tariff; intervention where markets fail and action “to deliver good, secure jobs” through insourcing.

Mr Nowak said: “This needs to be a reset moment. From day one, the next prime minister has to show working people that this government is on their side — and do so unapologetically.

“Already, the wealthy and powerful — and their backers in the right-wing press — are trying to water down the agenda of any future prime minister.

“The next occupant in Downing Street can either face up to those vested interests or face the wrath of voters,” Mr Nowak said.

The TUC programme would, he added, “clearly and immediately signal that this is a government that wants to tilt the economy back towards working people.”

A key signal of Mr Burnham’s intentions will be his choice of chancellor to replace Rachel Reeves. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is front-runner, but the right are pushing for former health secretary Wes Streeting or another market-friendly figure.

Left economists have also pushed back against Unite general secretary Sharon Graham’s opposition to Mr Miliband.

She had claimed at the weekend that the Energy Secretary, who has opposed new licences for oil and gas production in the North Sea, where Unite has members, as a “noose around the neck” of jobs.

“Ed only seems to be interested in one side of the equation, rushing Britain to net zero with almost no thought for jobs, skills and national security,” Ms Graham said.

But more than 40 progressive economists, including Spirit Level author Kate Pickett, Danny Dorling and James Meadway, sent Unite an open letter backing Mr Miliband.

They wrote: “The climate transition is one of the largest drivers of industrial job creation in the UK economy. The net zero economy generates output worth over £100 billion and employs over a million workers. 

“The workers driving the green transition need union representation, good wages and champions in government.”

They added: “There is no alternative to the green transition. The effects of climate change are with us now. Miliband is right to oppose further expansion of North Sea oil and gas.”

Unite said that Ms Graham stood by her remarks.

Mr Burnham’s plans got a provisional thumbs-up from Mr Jones, however. After meeting the heir apparent he said he believed Mr Burnham “and those around him” were committed to the Treasury’s famous fiscal rules controlling public debt.

“I think it’s important he’s committed to those fiscal rules,” Mr Jones said, adding he was “reassured.”