NO-ONE in the labour movement should forebear to cheer Andy Burnham’s ruthless sweeping out of the right-wing Starmer clique from the Cabinet.

This is the gang which, with their now-departed chief, brought the Labour Party to its knees and, through their devotion to the status quo compounded by deceit, incompetence and grift, were poised to hand Britain over to the extreme right.

Rachel Reeves was the author of many of the attacks on the working class in the name of fiscal stringency which alienated the government from millions of working-class people.

David Lammy was among Labour’s foremost defenders of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and latterly the advocate of abolishing most jury trials.

Steve Reed was a Labour Together factional bully devoted only to attacking the left, Peter Kyle a zombie Blairite while Liz Kendall was as ineffectual as her 4.5 per cent of the vote in the 2015 Labour leadership election would suggest.

None will be missed for a moment, and it must be hoped that the back benches are only a waystation towards their departure from politics altogether.

However, the new Cabinet constructed by Burnham gives cause for concern, sufficient to cast a shadow over his stated intention to be a “circuit-breaker,” repudiating the orthodoxies of the last two generations.

Chief among these is the appointment of John Healey as the new chancellor. It is evident that Burnham has been intimidated by the City and the Labour right out of his original intention to offer the post to Ed Miliband.

That is bad enough in itself, but Healey’s promotion, just a month after quitting the Cabinet in protest at insufficient military spending, indicates a victory for the politics of the arms race and international confrontation.

Healey is known for little but his commitment to boosting the war machine as fast as possible. As chancellor he will not face the obstructions he did as defence secretary.

He will be reinforced in that drive by Wes Streeting, also returned to Cabinet after a brief absence, this time in charge of defence. 

Together, they will form a powerful military-first nexus at the heart of the new government. The price will be paid in terms of reduced spending on people’s needs. Healey and Streeting are the guns-before-butter gang.

They will also join forces with Shabana Mahmood, retained as home secretary and darling of the nativist Blue Labour faction. This is further bad news for those hoping for a better approach to migrant rights and a turn away from Starmer’s overweening authoritarianism, which Mahmood championed.

There are some more encouraging appointments. The return of Angie Rayner to take charge of housing is welcome, while most trade unionists found Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, good to deal with during his previous stint in the post.

Miliband as the new foreign secretary also offers modest grounds for hope. He has to his credit stopping aggressive war against Syria while Labour leader, when he also first announced that a Labour government would recognise a Palestinian state.

He is at least more likely to stand up to Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, and do all that is practicable to oppose the genocide in Gaza, than the alternative names canvassed for the post. However, he offers no change in terms of prolonging the Ukraine conflict by all means.

Burnham has clearly prioritised factional balance in his Cabinet over building a team committed to the new course he articulates.  

That will prove a mistake, but at least today’s Labour government is a coalition of the soft left with the various right-wing groupings, rather than Starmer’s exclusive reliance on the right. One step forward.