BBC journalist Glenny sees bold promises and continuity alike in Burnham's inaugural speech

Burnham, who had only taken office on Monday as the seventh British Prime Minister within a decade, had announced in his inaugural speech "the greatest political and economic changes in 40 years." Wolf followed up: "He did announce the greatest political and economic changes in 40 years. Could he be overpromising with that?" Glenny answered evasively and critically, calling the plan to immediately end homelessness in Great Britain "a bold promise." A similarly "bold promise," Glenny noted, Burnham had already made in Manchester—"with limited success."

Course between change and continuity

In substance, according to Glenny, the new Prime Minister outlined a ten-year strategy to fundamentally correct the consequences of the neoliberal economic policy of the Margaret Thatcher era. However, Glenny made clear that Burnham did not intend to overturn fiscal policy. After all, it is "very, very important for business and the City."

On European policy, Burnham sent contradictory signals. Just a few months ago, he had said he hoped "that during his lifetime Great Britain will rejoin the EU." During the application process for the office of Prime Minister, however, he had been "markedly more restrained" on EU re-entry, Glenny said. That Burnham "is a very big fan of the EU" was, according to Glenny's account, not concealed by him. For the coming term in office, however, Glenny expects a continuation of the previous foreign policy, which also includes Britain's role as a reliable partner of Ukraine. "Brussels will have a reliable partner in Burnham," Glenny said.

Brexit as explanation for the instability

Glenny attributed London's political instability less to an allegedly ungovernable society, and more to the consequences of Brexit. Wolf had asked: "Has Great Britain become ungovernable?" Glenny disagreed: British society is indeed "deeply divided" into EU supporters and opponents, and "the open wound of Brexit remains." Yet the frequent turnover at the top of government was explained primarily by the Brexit effect on the Conservative Party. The party, which had carried the EU exit by majority, had thereby been "more or less destroyed." Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak had not managed to restore the voters' lost trust.

At the same time, Glenny looked at a possible counterweight: The right-wing populist Reform UK of Nigel Farage, which had been leading in polls at times, had recently lost support. "His support among the public has declined over the past months," Glenny said. The British view Farage "with a certain skepticism." The background, he said, is questions about donations from billionaires and the suspicion that Farage is "perhaps corrupt."

Farage and Reform UK in decline

Glenny, who until the spring headed the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna, soberly assessed the situation: "The past decade has brought total confusion to British politics." For Burnham, he nonetheless sees opportunities—but it remains open whether the current decline in support for Reform UK will last.

Overall, Glenny painted the picture of a Prime Minister who wants to mark a fresh start with great pathos, while neither overhauling the economy nor fundamentally changing the Brexit line. The grand promises of the inaugural speech, in Glenny's conclusion in the ORF interview, face a difficult political and financial reality.