Ignore the miserabilists: Andy Burnham as PM is a moment when things really can get better | Polly Toynbee

He’s the only person who can keep Nigel Farage out of Downing Street, so let’s embrace his unique blend of optimism and realism As Keir Starmer bid a brief and emotional farewell at that pillory of a lectern, there was a moment for some to ask: what have we done, and why? He’s not a bad man, not a Boris Johnson or Liz Truss rogue prime minister. How decadent, if lack of charisma has become a sacking offence. But the reason why isn’t written in Westminster. It’s there in councils up and down t...

By Polly Toynbee