The political Messi strikes
But brokering a deal proving troublesome for Labour and the pretenders to the crown
Crossings
It was all a bit similar to the TV series “Race Across The World” with rival teams heading not for some obscure destination but to Downing Street to claim the trophy and along with prize money £20,000.
Andy Burnham was dressed down in his casual look of jeans and a polo shirt in what was presumably designed to convey a reassuring message to voters that ‘heh…don’t panic, everything’s in hand.’
As if by some miracle power, he arrived at Euston station in this outfit but emerged in a regulation blue suit and tie after disappearing for a few minutes, possibly weighing up that there was a time and a place for the casual look and this was not it.
It leant him a sense of gravitas of the kind deployed by the man he is to replace, who was expert in this field. Starmer may have few strengths but he could describe a cold cup of tea as if it was the ominous advancing threat of aliens from “The War Of the World” like nobody else.
Burnham has spent the last few months preparing his bid to convince us that all he wants to do is forget about his previous job of running a large city but devote his energies towards organising a garden shed.
It hasn’t been that convincing - not helped by the necessity to be an MP before he could do anything at all - although he crossed that hurdle relatively easily.
If only all job applications were that simple.
So, we have to wait and see. A rival may come out to contest Burnham in a leadership race and there are grumbles that the electorate is being deprived of a say in who should run the country.
As to Kent and Andy Burnham, it will be interesting to see what he has to say about key regional issues, such as Operation Brock and the new Dartford Crossing.
And inevitably, he will have to address the issue of irregular migration and the Channel crossings - but does so against a more propitious backdrop with the numbers falling for the first time.
His assertion that people are not anti-migration but do want to be able to voice their concerns about the issue is a classic piece of political spin as it allows voters to take a position that is more nuanced.
In a recent TV interview, he said there was nothing wrong with people expressing their concerns about the issue when it was more about a lack of control of migrants that they wrongly feared
Which may be a simple way of articulating the one issue that successive party leaders have grappled unsuccessfully with.