5 Bold Fixes PM Burnham Needs to Save the UK

With Keir Starmer out and Andy Burnham stepping in as Britain’s seventh Prime Minister in a decade, the new administration faces a nation stuck on a 15-year social progress track. In this episode of Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast, Michael Green addresses Prime Minister Burnham directly, laying out an evidence-based roadmap for positive change grounded in the Social Progress Index.

Michael challenges traditional political reliance on GDP data, exposing why economic growth alone fails to secure voter approval if daily lived experiences remain unchanged. From rethinking Boris Johnson’s failed leveling-up agenda to fixing the structural flaws in the housing market, this episode breaks down what it will truly take to deliver a lasting legacy in the UK.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

So the deed has been done. Keir Starmer, winner of a landslide general election just two years ago, has been defenestrated, and Britain has a new Prime Minister, yet again, the seventh in ten years, Mr Andy Burnham. What's the difference? Mr Burnham has a bit more charm and charisma than the stolid Mr Starmer, and the rest is well basically unknown. So, as is my patriotic duty, let me give Mr Burnham some advice based on data from the Social Progress Index. I have good news and bad news for you, Mr Burnham. The bad news is that the UK is stuck in a rut. Social progress has been stagnant for the last 15 years due to post-financial crisis austerity, Brexit, and to a certain degree COVID. You inherit a troubled kingdom. The good news is that change is possible. Back in 1990, the UK was bottom of the G7 on social progress, but then enjoyed 20 years of sustained improvement under first John Major and then Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Change is possible, although perhaps now harder given the tricky fiscal situation the UK is in. There are, I think, three keys to success for you, Mr Burnham, if you're to go to leave a lasting social progress legacy. First, keep your eyes on the prize. The Team of Social Progress Imperative has studied elections around the world, and what we found is that economic growth on its own is not enough to get you reelected. Voters just aren't stupid. They judge you on their day-to-day lived experience, not a GDP statistic. If they don't see improvement in their daily lives, they will kick you out, even if the economic growth numbers look good. Your success metric should be getting the UK out of its social progress rut. Economic growth is one of the means, not the end itself. Second, you have to look beyond the national numbers to differences across regions and communities. That of course has been said before. Boris Johnson made a lot of hoo-ha about what he called levelling up. Alas, he went about it the wrong way, as many have done before. Regional policy in the hands of egotistical politicians often ends up in luring flagship investments that make good announcements to the press, but don't deliver much in terms of lasting legacy. A bold regional agenda for you, Mr. Burnham, would have three elements. Number one, level up what matters. Regional policy has all too often tried to equalize incomes across a country. That is a fool's errand. There'll always be differences in economic activity across a country. Focus instead on equalizing quality of life, social progress. That, as we've seen from successful Nordic countries, is an achievable policy goal and one that voters will see in their everyday lives. Number two, create customized strategies for each region and community based on their real needs. Now your pitch for power was of course based on your apparent success as the mayor of Manchester. And you used your local knowledge to focus on public transportation and won Plaudits for doing so. Congratulations. We see for London's Mayor Sadi Khan also. He's followed the evidence and he's taken bold measures to curb particulate air pollution and has delivered big benefits to Londoners. A local problem and a local solution. You've talked about greater devolution to local government. That's a good idea. Could be a big idea, as long as the local leaders follow the evidence on where the biggest problems are and where the best solutions are. Number three, higher education system is a very powerful lever for any regional agenda. We see this very clearly in social progress index data all across the world. Universities have large positive spillover effects, not just in jobs and skills, but more widely in the communities around them. Universities are a bit out of fashion in Britain at the moment. That's a mistake. Strong universities are good for the country and good for the communities where they're based. You should embrace this as part of your agenda. My final piece of advice to you, Mr. Burnham, based on the UK Social Progress Index performance, is to go for big fixes, not quick fixes. Unaffordable housing is one of the UK's big weaknesses. Government after government has promised to fix it, pledging to build the magic 300,000 homes a year. Every one of them has failed. Of course house building is part of the solution, but so too is other are other issues like planning reform, tax reform. You've made some interesting mutterings about these issues, Mr. Burnham. Be bold and leave a lasting legacy. If you can fix the housing market to stop it being unaffordable, that would be massive. The other area needing a big fix is building a peaceful and harmonious society. One of Britain's great triumphs was after the bloody wars of the seventeenth century, to recognize the importance of polite and patient deliberation in the public arena. That is disappearing, fueled by meddling foreign powers, mischievous billionaires, inflammatory algorithms, and demagogic opportunists. You need to be robust in tackling all these threats. Maybe even constitutional reform will be needed to create new resilient structures fit for the world of AI. The UK, probably working with the EU and other middle powers, needs to take this seriously as a matter of national security. I don't envy you, Mr Burnham. There's a lot to do and not a lot of resources to do it with. You're also coming into power with a weight of expectations from your back to backers who are going to cry foul if those expectations are not satisfied. But don't be cowed, there is serious work to be done.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Good luck, and as always, follow the data.org.