At the time of writing (4pm on Saturday afternoon) there has as yet been no announcement as to whether the Labour Party establishment will permit Andy Burnham, presently Executive Mayor of Greater Manchester, to stand as their candidate in a coming parliamentary by election, or if they do, whether Mr Burnham will accept the opportunity to change roles and, if successful, possibly challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Party's leadership.
Both decisions are possibly crucial for the future of liberal democracy in the UK. In my view the best outcome will be:
1. Labour's NEC will permit Mr Burnham to apply to fight the seat. To try to prevent him would signal that the current Labour leadership (the NEC is alleged to have a majority of devoted acolytes of Sir Keir) would announce that they are "frit" (apparently a Lincolnshire word introduced to the political sphere by Margaret Thatcher) and uncertain of Sir Keir's ability to fight off a challenge. This suspicion would seriously damage his leadership.
2. Although given permission to contest the seat, Mr Burnham should turn down the opportunity and declare that he is content to serve the party, the people of Greater Manchester and the the country in his present role. To do otherwise, win and challenge Sir Keir for the leadership would further weaken Labour's already very unpopular government and present an open door to the Tories and Reform.
The last thing we need is a squabbling government party. Even if their leadership does not have the vision and charismatic communication skills they would like, it is at least fairly honest, decent and "in it" for the country rather than themselves.
It is very important for the future of liberal democracy for the Labour Government to do well. I have no up-to date figures but throughout my years of active campaigning (from the mid-1960s to the end of the century) when Labour did well in general elections the Liberals/Liberal Democrats did well too. For Labour to continue to perform badly will probably mean that when the next general election comes the disillusioned electorate is likely to grant some combination of the Tories and Reform a majority and thus put back in power the very people responsible for our present woes - Tories with their rape of the pubic sector and Reform with Brexit.
So if the approach outlined above is announced in the next hour Labour could, just could, recognise that, united and working, preferably openly but, if they continue to be "frit," clandestinely, they could, with the other progressive forces, bring about the progressive transformation we all crave.
And the leaders of those progressive forces, Liberal Democrats, Greens and nationalists, cut out carping criticisms and limit themselves to constructive suggestions.
PS Added18h25
Oh dear:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn408vmxrg8o
Our democracy would thus survive the present dangerous times and emerge a healthy and decent component of a liberal, competent, and law-abiding force in the world.
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