It’s how politics is supposed to work but almost never does, which is why on the rare occasions it happens the result can be faintly chaotic. What did Andy Burnham mean when he said – in response to a question from the Tory MP Harriett Baldwin – that Labour couldn’t partner with the Green party while it remains wedded to the “Zionism is racism” motion its members have just endorsed? Were Green MPs now barred from a future coalition government?
If so, what about councils where they are currently sharing power with Labour? Though Burnham was only confirming what ministers have been arguing privately for days, at first nobody seemed to know: tellingly, it took almost 24 hours for the Labour party chair, Bridget Phillipson, to confirm that unless local Green groups disowned that idea sharpish, “Labour will bring any such local arrangement to an end”. So much for cuddly cross-party Andy, who always seemed so relaxed about rainbow coalitions.
Now elected Greens in places such as Sheffield or Lewes must choose between power and members’ wrath, a useful rehearsal for what a hung parliament might feel like. Westminster is increasingly realising that while nobody knows quite what’s in Burnham’s head except Burnham, unlike most prime ministers he is surprisingly liable just to tell you. He did it earlier this week on a podcast, pointing out that Russia tried to interfere in the Brexit vote (which is true, albeit the sort of truth that for complicated reasons prime ministers don’t generally dwell on).
Now the safety catch is off again. What did he mean with his comments about Labour and the Greens? Most likely just what he said: that the Greens crossed a line and it cannot be overlooked, especially by a party still recovering from its own battle with antisemitism.
Green members did not just vote to adopt a policy that would condemn every Jew who believes in the right to a Jewish homeland, including those who simultaneously support the creation of a Palestinian state. The motion they backed advocates turning all of historic Palestine into a Palestinian state, a one-state solution wiping Israel off the map. Much as Kemi Badenoch did recently by insisting that her English-born children have every right to be considered English, no matter what the ethno-nationalists of Reform and Restore say, Burnham was simply showing that he has limits: this far, and no further.
Something has shaken loose over the party conference season. What we are seeing isn’t the return of two-party politics – things are still too volatile for that – but the return of leaders confident enough to set boundaries on what had become an almost abusive relationship with the public. They are no longer quite so terrified of naming extremism when they see it.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
