Andy Burnham's lack of direct defence experience, seen by some as a liability, could actually be his greatest asset in addressing the UK's security challenges, argues strategy adviser Jessica Berlin. As the likely next prime minister following Keir Starmer's resignation over defence spending disputes, Burnham brings a unique perspective rooted in local governance and community resilience.
From Manchester Mayor to National Leader
Burnham made his name as mayor of Manchester, fighting central government on behalf of the city rather than building a Whitehall foreign-policy career. This background, Berlin contends, positions him to lead a transformative defence agenda focused on domestic resilience—a critical need in an era of hybrid warfare.
Berlin notes that the UK is already under attack from Russian psyops, bot farms, cyberhacks, sabotage, and assassinations on British soil. Even Starmer faced a campaign of online vitriol and disinformation; when he resigned, Vladimir Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev boasted "We did it," overstating Moscow's influence but highlighting the threat.
The Real Security Threat
In May last year, a car and two properties linked to Starmer were set alight by a Ukrainian and a Romanian national recruited by a Russian-speaking handler. Despite a senior counter-terrorism police officer describing the case as fitting Russian state-backed sabotage, the UK gave "a collective shrug," Berlin writes.
This indifference is the real security threat, helping Moscow more than any warehouse fire. Russia cannot sink the Royal Navy and does not need to; it is more effective to corrode the solidarity, trust, and identity that hold a democratic society together.
Learning from Ukraine and Finland
When Ukraine was invaded in 2022, it survived because society mobilised. Berlin recalls meeting civilians running ad-hoc intelligence networks, coordinating fundraising for under-equipped units, and engineers tinkering with commercial drones in basements and garages. Community-level resilience enabled Ukraine to survive and build a defence innovation industry now turning the tide of the war.
Finland is the global benchmark, treating national security as a whole-of-society responsibility. Its "comprehensive security" model integrates government, businesses, and civil society. Its 50,000 civil defence shelters can protect 85% of the population; Berlin visited one in Helsinki that doubles as a sports hall and playground. Media literacy and fake news identification are taught from age three.
Burnham's Record on Resilience
As mayor, Burnham faced serious security threats: the Manchester Arena terror attack, floods, fires, and the Covid-19 pandemic. He commissioned an independent review after the arena attack and acted on its findings, appointing Greater Manchester's first chief resilience officer and boosting a forum coordinating over 80 agencies to assess risk and respond to crises.
"Someone attacked Burnham's city; he ordered an honest reckoning and institutionalised the lessons," Berlin writes. "That is precisely the move a prime minister dealing with the threat of hybrid war would need to make—at national scale."
A New Defence Strategy
Burnham has promised to decentralise decision-making from London to the UK's nations and regions. Berlin argues this is also a model for rewiring Britain's defence: a country whose prosperity and power are spread across every region is harder to turn against itself.
Berlin calls for a national defence and resilience strategy that funds traditional military strength paired with serious investment in education, critical and digital infrastructure, and jobs. "The point is not to choose between tanks or teachers, missiles or minds—all are vital to national defence in an era of hybrid warfare."
Europe and Nato
Britain isn't alone. Europe and Nato need to embed resilience because Ukraine and Finland remain exceptions. Berlin's own country, Germany, is uniquely unprepared, with crumbling infrastructure that is a defence vulnerability even without Russian sabotage.
At the Nato summit in Ankara this week, European leaders may doubt Burnham's foreign policy chops, but Berlin concludes: "A country that strengthens its communities and hardens itself against hybrid war is a stronger ally, not a weaker one. A former mayor who learned resilience on the ground can better lead the charge than defence grand strategists realise."
