At a poet’s memorial, I saw how Andy Burnham could be a different kind of prime minister | Blake Morrison

The putative PM-to-be explained how one of Tony Harrison’s poems gave him a new outlook – one that the country is sorely in need of Two weeks before Josh Simons stood down as the Makerfield MP for his benefit, Andy Burnham was at Salts Mill in Shipley celebrating the life and work of the poet Tony Harrison. It was a small gathering, with actors, directors, writers and family members paying homage. Burnham wasn’t the only politician to speak; Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, is another fan (in 2020 he put down an early day motion in parliament that recognised how Harrison had “always written,

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