Key adviser to Burnham 'likens economic growth to cancer'

By JASON GROVES, POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 00:17, 29 June 2026 | Updated: 00:17, 29 June 2026 A key adviser to Andy Burnham has likened economic growth to a ‘cancer’ on society. Neal Lawson said it was time for Labour to end its ‘Trumpian obsession with economic growth’ and focus on making people happier. Mr Lawson, the director of Labour-affiliated think-tank Compass, is a long-time ally of Mr Burnham and is expected to be rewarded with a job in No 10. In an article for Byline Times last year, he questioned ‘whether growth really does lie within the control of individual governments’. But he also asked if pursuing growth was even desirable, calling for a vision of a ‘good society we can all share, with air we can breathe... the space and time to let our minds wander and bodies rest, to be citizens, not just consumers’. A former adviser to Gordon Brown, Mr Lawson recalled a meeting with Labour grandee Harriet Harman in which she complained that some activists felt talking about growth was like ‘talking about cancer’.  He added: ‘Harriet was accidentally on to something – the cancer of the treadmill, the cancer of climate chaos and enforced mass migration.  'Let’s grow care and time, our relationships and compassion; let’s grow trees and realistic hope because there is no economic growth on a dead planet.’ Mr Burnham wants to pursue a pro-growth agenda but has pledged to break with the ‘trickle-down economics of the last 40 years’ Mr Lawson suggested Labour’s decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow was ‘our version of [Donald] Trump’s drill, baby, drill’ – a slogan used by the US President to advocate for oil and gas drilling. And he warned against the deregulation agenda floated by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, saying: ‘Just as brakes on a car enable the driver to go faster, regulation is crucial to a functioning economy.  'Without it, monopolies emerge, corners are cut and people suffer.’ Mr Burnham wants to pursue a pro-growth agenda but has pledged to break with the ‘trickle-down economics of the last 40 years’. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.