Andy Burnham will become Britain’s latest prime minister amid intensifying pressure to change the government’s policy on North Sea oil and gas drilling. But critics warn he has no overarching economic strategy to tackle the UK’s long-running productivity crisis.
The incoming PM inherits a problem that his predecessors failed to address: productivity growth collapsed after the global financial crisis in 2008 and never recovered. Until then, the City of London was the engine of growth. Now, with the Strait of Hormuz again closed, pressure is mounting for Burnham to reverse course on drilling projects at Rosebank and Jackdaw.
“Incoming PM Burnham faces North Sea drilling pressure and lacks a clear economic strategy, analysts warn.”
Research, however, shows that oil and gas drilling at those fields will fail as a long-term strategy. The argument is often framed as a choice between climate and costs, but that misrepresents what is possible and what is at stake, according to analysis published in the New Statesman.
Burnham has had little time to prepare his agenda. The gap between his victory in the Makerfield by-election and his arrival at No 10 is comparable to the two months between a US presidential election and inauguration. Bill Clinton used a similar window to assemble experts and set goals, intermediate targets, and a clear strategy.
By contrast, an analysis published in UnHerd argues that Burnham has expressed many ideas about British society and has policies, but lacks an overarching strategic objective beyond the usual platitudes of social justice. The question of where his economic strategy lies remains unanswered as he takes office.