Is Burnham just Starmer with vibes? The same lobby groups funded both

Is Burnham just Starmer with vibes? The same lobby groups funded both Joe Gill on Mon, 08/31/2026 - 10:51 Big business and pro-Israel interests have dominated the Labour Party from Blair to Starmer. The new PM has little time to show he's not just that system's new face Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham talks with staff during a visit to a Sainsbury's supermarket in London on 26 August 2026 (Richard Pohle/AFP) On When he became prime minister this summer, Andy Burnham promised to end 40 years of neoliberalism. It was a bold declaration, and stood in contrast to the dull managerialism and endless staged relaunches by his predecessor, Keir Starmer. But less than 50 days since he became PM, it is clear that Burnham is failing to live up to his promise. He has backtracked on a number of key policy pledges that would mark out his premiership as something different to Starmer’s. These include a U-turn on a cap on large political donations that Burnham had previously pledged to back; abandoning support for rent controls to halt ever-rising housing costs for millions of private tenants; dropping his pledge that all investment in housing would go to council and affordable homes; and sta