Inside the Lords: is anyone running the country?
Claire Fox reports on a zombie Labour government, stuck between leaders, and the excited mood around Andy Burnham, even though his big idea – more devolution – will be anything but a panacea.
This the first Inside the Lords for a while. The reason is that there is nobody running the country. Most of us are delighted to see the back of Keir Starmer, but the fact is that ministers simply don’t know what is going to happen next. So, we have a weird interregnum until the seemingly inevitable coronation of Andy Burnham. While Labour politicians in Parliament seem terribly excited about replacing Starmer with Burnham, there is a worrying lack of detail on what he would do differently or what he even believes in.
Burnham’s big idea is more devolution. But I’m extremely sceptical about whether this is really taking power from Whitehall and handing it over to local people. The claims about Manchesterism are overblown, so how it could solve the fundamental problems of the economy and everything else is beyond me.
Moreover, ‘local’ is not a synonym for ‘better’. This week, we’ve had the report on the Nottingham maternity scandal, hearing about how women and babies are dying in childbirth because of the failure to listen to them, imposing the ideology of ‘natural’ birth over the best that medical science can offer. From the horrifying death of toddler Preston Davey to the grooming gangs, some of the worst scandals of recent years have been because of the failures and corruption of local government and services.
You also have to ask whether Burnham will be quite so keen on handing over power to councils run by Reform, the Green Party or the Islamist-leaning so-called ‘Independents’. And as power moves to local areas, the ability of Parliament to scrutinise will be reduced. So much for democracy.
The failings of the state are the central theme of this year’s edition of The Academy, the residential summer school run by Ideas Matter. It’s taking place on 22 & 23 August at Wyboston Lakes in Bedfordshire and I would everyone to come along. Find out more here.
In better news, I’ve won a ballot to have a debate of my choice in the House of Lords soon. I’ve chosen artistic boycotts as my theme: the way that the arts establishment closes ranks against anyone who is, for example, gender critical or in any way supportive of Israel. I will be delighted to highlight the report by Rosie Kay and Denise Fahmy.
Below, you can watch two of my recent speeches. One is on the Conversion Practices Bill, which has sadly turned up again like a bad penny. A ban would only act to prevent people caring for trans-leaning young people from helping them to explore why they feel a desire to transition, making affirmation the only show in town. The other speech looks at Brexit and disinformation, something often used as an excuse for our vote to leave – rather than voters coming to a rational judgement on the issues.
On this issue, one of Starmer’s legacies will be to foist mainstream media outlets like the BBC on to social-media companies as ‘trusted sources’, we need more questioning of official attempts to ‘control the narrative’. We’re now programming the Battle of Ideas festival on 17 & 18 October in Westminster and it’s the best place to be if you feel like doing some serious questioning, too. Get your tickets here.
Videos from The Lords
Question on the Conversion Practices Bill, 1 July 2026
Question on disinformation and Brexit, 25 June 2026
Roisin Murphy, worth a mention.