If the PM reboots the UK for working-class people, unions will be with him. But the time for talking is over | Andrea Egan

Andy Burnham has railed against neoliberalism – the historic shift must start with this week’s budget

• Andrea Egan is the general secretary of Unison

After Keir Starmer, things could only get better inside Labour. But Andy Burnham’s arrival as party leader and prime minister didn’t just clear that low bar. It was a cause for hope, especially for those of us in the trade union movement. That’s less because Burnham is streets ahead of his predecessor as a politician – although he is – and more about just how radically the new prime minister has framed his project for the country.

I’ve been active in the labour movement for almost four decades. In that time, I cannot count how many times I’ve heard talk of reversing the devastation wreaked by Margaret Thatcher. For socialists and grassroots trade union activists, this kind of political thinking is bread and butter. But not so much for a Labour prime minister.

Andrea Egan is the general secretary of Unison

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