Andy Burnham becomes Prime Minister today, but this time it’s different, familiar, personal. Mr Burnham was born in 1970. I was born in 1970. Mr Burnham wears Birkenstocks. I wear Birkenstocks. Mr Burnham doesn’t like people who clap when the plane lands. I don’t like people who clap when the plane lands. Mr Burnham puts the milk in first when making tea. I put the milk in first when making tea. Will the similarities never end?

The other big parallel between him and me – and it makes me like him a little bit more because that’s how music works – is that he’s a fan of New Order. When he was doing his first speech as leader the other day, the tune they played was New Order’s True Faith, which was quite a good choice: I get this feeling I’m in motion / A sudden sense of liberty. And I was pleased to see the new PM takes the same approach I take when suddenly required to do dancing in public: if in doubt, point.

The song chosen for Mr Burnham’s speech might seem like a trivial subject considering everything else he’s facing, but it can be a nice way of connecting with people and getting a quick impression of who someone is, although it can backfire as well. The Australian PM Anthony Albanese got into bother when he wore a Joy Division T-shirt, Joy Division being the predecessor of New Order. The opposition party in Australia said the T-shirt raised doubts about Mr Albanese’s values because Joy Division – and New Order – used iconography associated with Hitler’s Germany; the name New Order itself also has explicit ties to Nazism. And if that isn’t bad enough, the leader singer of Joy Division voted Tory!

It’s all nonsense of........

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