During the Makerfield by-election, Andy Burnham backed Shabana Mahmood’s immigration reforms, aligning Labour’s prevailing strategy to the anti-immigration mood. Mahmood’s position, in short, follows the Danish Social Democrats’ model: harden rhetoric and reduce numbers to take the ground from the far right. Burnham had previously criticised the home secretary’s plans, warning they leave people “in a sense of limbo and unable to integrate”. But he seems to have dropped this concern to appeal to the political context of the Leave-voting, Reform-susceptible constituency of Makerfield. The broader public mood on immigration is, however, more nuanced. Having won the by-election, Burnham now has…