James Woolcock

Burnham’s Break With Thatcherism Runs Up Against Britain’s Debt

Andy Burnham’s pledge to reverse Margaret Thatcher’s economic legacy runs up against a constraint Thatcher did not face on the same scale: Britain’s higher debt and borrowing costs. Bloomberg’s analysis finds that Burnham’s push for more local power and public control of essential services would require choices about what to take back—and how to pay for it. Analysts Adrian Wooldridge, Philip Aldrick and Victoria Wakely argue that a viable break with Thatcherism would depend on expanding the state without losing the bond market’s confidence.