The Rise of The Burnhamator/The Fall of a PM

As Lib Dem's are seemingly making it clear that the Con-Dem Nation isn't necessarily built in stone, Andy Burnham is attempting to kick start his charge at the leadership of Labour. Today, a version of the Queen Speech was leaked and voting reform seems to be at the forefront. Nick Clegg has also implied today that he wanted reform changes to be made imminently. He stated that if he could not get support in it from the coalition then he would look to the Labour Party to help get the reforms through.

This is essentially the Deputy Prime Minister challenging the position of the Prime Minister, David Cameron. He is basically saying that if his superior won't let him do what he wants then he will form an alliance with the competitor. This is not usual business practice and goes to show what a different form of politics this coalition has given us. Essentially, the third party have the power of a first party. The reform is seemingly Lib Dems biggest issue, they are desperately pushing this through - yet it divides Labour and Conservatives. Lib Dems came third in the election - clearly we did not prioritise issues the same way they did, or we disagreed with their stance on it. Should they be pushing this through so forcefully when the two parties a majority of us voted for can't decide on it. Only when Labour or Tories make a full decision on this is it democratic to pass it, and Labour won't be doing that until they have a leader.

Talking of which, the leadership debate intensified today as Burnham suggested the Labour Party had attempted to 'stifle debates on immigration' during the election. Andy Burnham suggests that immigration was the biggest issue in the election - perhaps due to Browns infamous response when asked about the topic. Andy Burnham now has the backing of David Blunkett and certainly looks like he is willing to use his unblemished character to attack the last Government. Although, Andy Burnham is right in that immigration is a hot topic at the moment, is it one that Labour can go into? The response that Diane Abbott gave (It's very dangerous to scapegoat immigrants in a recession ("It's very dangerous to scapegoat immigrants in a recession") is unlikely to be popular with the electorate. Labour need to address the problem that BNP will be looking for disaffected Labourites, but they also need to decide are they willing to fight that idealistic battle and lose some of the centre ground. This could be one of the main decisions the Labour Party Members must make during the election campaign.