Burnham vows to drastically transfer power from UK central authority if he assumes premiership

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The frontrunner to become Britain’s next prime minister, Andy Burnham, vowed in a keynote speech Monday to “bring about the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen” if he succeeds Keir Starmer.

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Burnham, currently the only candidate to replace Starmer as Labour leader and prime minister, pledged to devolve greater powers to regional mayors, including in Manchester where until recently he was in charge.

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“I am going to give Britain the circuit breaker it needs,” Burnham told an invited audience in the northwest English city, pledging to put power “in the hands of the people and places who can use it best”.

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“We need a new determination to raise living standards of every single person in this land,” he added.

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“And we must accept that to do that, to fix the economy and the country, we need to change politics and we need to do it now.”

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Delivering his speech from a Manchester museum, Burnham described Britain as “one of the most over-centralised countries in the world”.

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Should the veteran Labour politician continue to face no challengers to become prime minister, the former minister and Greater Manchester could be in the post as early as mid-July.

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Starmer announced his resignation last Monday.

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– ‘Streamlined state’ –

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Burnham would inherit a British economy that ruling centre-left Labour vowed to revitalise when it won power after 14 years in opposition in 2024 but has so far struggled to deliver on.

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Growth showed signs of picking up until the US-Iran war hindered progress and pushed up inflation.

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Burnham used his speech to pledge fiscal discipline and to reduce the country’s ballooning welfare bill, having already sought to calm markets by committing to the government’s current borrowing limits.

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He meanwhile proposed the creation of a “No. 10 North” to coordinate the devolution — a play on words on the UK prime minister’s address at 10 Downing Street.

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“We will create a more streamlined state with a clearer purpose: to power up all parts of the country and put a laser-like focus on growth and regeneration,” he said.

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“The change will be driven through the prime minister’s office in an extended operation, based here in Manchester.”

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He vowed that office would “oversee the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period”.

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However, he did not set out how that would be funded, amid squeezed public finances in the UK.

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– ‘Manchesterism’ –

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Coining the phrase “Manchesterism”, which he defines as business-friendly socialism, Burnham has railed against trickle-down economics and neo-liberalism.

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Among his more defined economic beliefs is greater “public control” over services like transport, water and energy, though he was vague Monday on whether this meant full renationalisation of utilities.

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Under Starmer, UK railway operators were gradually re-entering public hands.

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Burnham has positioned himself as a champion for small businesses and proposed cutting business rates for pubs and music venues.

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“I will back our scientists, technologists, entrepreneurs, and creatives, as I have done here (in Manchester), and show how Britain will be the innovation nation of the next decade,” he said Monday.

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In the days since Starmer resigned, speculation has been rife among UK media and businesses about who Burnham will appoint as finance minister.

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Rachel Reeves has served as chancellor of the exchequer since Labour returned to power almost two years ago but reportedly faces the axe if Burnham takes office.

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Starmer had been clinging to power since Labour suffered a drubbing in local and regional elections last month, following a litany of missteps and policy U-turns.

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He was also dogged by a scandal over his appointment of Peter Mandelson, a former associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the UK’s ambassador to Washington.

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AFP

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