by Daniel Martin
Andy Burnham will set out a 10-year plan to transform the economy as he prepares to enter Downing Street.
In a sign he intends to fight at least two elections as prime minister, Mr Burnham will argue on Monday that he needs a decade to overhaul Britain, strip power from Whitehall and deliver “good growth in every postcode”.
He will lay out plans for a “No 10 North”, moving part of his operation outside Westminster to push through a radical programme of English devolution, transferring decisions over spending from mandarins in London to powerful regional mayors.
In his first major speech since returning to Parliament in this month’s Makerfield by-election, Mr Burnham will commit to greater state control of Britain’s energy and water supplies.
He will also pledge a new programme of council house building and infrastructure projects outside the South-East as part of efforts to “lift Britain back up to where it should be”.
‘Shuffling power between politicians’
Opposition parties, however, accused Mr Burnham of failing to provide details of how he would help working families or defend the country, and warned he was simply seeking to “shuffle power between politicians”.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, called for him to go to Parliament and set out his priorities as a matter of urgency.
Mr Burnham’s announcement that he wants a decade in power comes after Sir Keir Starmer faced derision for unveiling his hopes to lead a “10-year project of renewal” just weeks before he was forced to quit.
The incoming premier will say the central thrust of his administration will be the biggest transfer of power out of Whitehall in modern times.
He will contend that handing decision-making power to the regions will boost the economy and lead to “good growth in every postcode”.
As part of this, a “No 10 North” will oversee the handing of power to mayors, who would be given larger budgets for social housing, education for over 16s, infrastructure, transport and tackling welfare dependency.
Mr Burnham will commit to a 10-year mission to raise living standards through reindustrialisation, better housing and infrastructure, and what his team calls the “reform of essential utilities”, understood to mean greater state control over the likes of water and energy companies.
There had been speculation that the prime minister-in-waiting might call an early election to secure a mandate for his reforms, given that he did not run in the 2024 general election. However, allies played down the prospect on Sunday, saying the public did not want a poll.
Speaking in Manchester on Monday morning, Mr Burnham will pledge to “give Britain the circuit-breaker it needs” after years of decline.
A minister under Gordon Brown, he will vow to “change politics to make it work for us”, admitting that he and others in his generation of politicians must take responsibility for the loss of public trust.
He will set out education reforms to ensure that technical courses are esteemed like university degrees, and pledge to reform procurement rules so that public bodies are incentivised to sign contracts with British rather than foreign companies.
The aim is to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training, as part of a step to address what Lord Milburn, the former Labour Cabinet minister, called Britain’s “lost generation” of youth.
Finally, Mr Burnham will call for a new political culture focused on “place before party, problem-solving before point-scoring and long-term thinking over short-term politics”.
The MP – who, unusually, is not expected to take questions from the media after his speech – will say that there must be a change in how Britain is governed, not just who governs it.
But Kevin Hollinrake, chairman of the Conservative Party, accused Mr Burnham of pledging “more devolution, more committees, more process”.
He added that the Makerfield MP had said nothing about how he would pay for extra defence spending, despite fears that Britain was unable to combat Russian aggression.
Mr Hollinrake said: “Andy Burnham’s big idea is to shuffle power between politicians. Not fix the welfare system. Not cut the taxes strangling working families and British business. Not fund the defence our country desperately needs.
“It’s the politics of distraction from a Labour Party that is deliberately avoiding the questions that actually matter.”
A spokesman for Reform UK added: “It’s a lot of words for no actual concrete changes. It’s clear that Burnham has taken a leaf out of Starmer’s book; all talk, no action.
“Britain is broken and only radical change at pace is going to fix it. Burnham is talking about 10 years. We don’t have that long to save the country. The British public deserves change quicker than in a decade’s time.”
Public doesn’t want another election, Labour claims
At the weekend, Louise Haigh – the former transport secretary and a key ally of Mr Burnham – was revealed to have called for radical changes in taxation, including an increase in capital gains tax and new property taxes.
She also wants a relaxation of the fiscal rules to allow more borrowing, and says the Treasury should be split in two, with the creation of a new department to support economic growth.
On Sunday, a Cabinet minister claimed the public did not want an early election, despite senior Labour figures, including Mr Burnham, having called for a poll in 2022 when Liz Truss replaced Boris Johnson and was herself replaced by Rishi Sunak.
Steve Reed, the Communities Secretary, said: “The public expect us to focus on delivering the change we were elected to deliver less than two years ago.
“The public do not want a general election, and that’s not just my instinct. You can look at the polls, which tell us the vast majority do not. They want us to get on with the job.”
Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader and an ally of Mr Burnham, denied it was hypocritical for her to argue there should be no election now despite demanding one in 2022.
She also said Ed Miliband would make a good chancellor. Mr Burnham is currently considering who to appoint, with centrists calling on him to give the job to Wes Streeting or Shabana Mahmood.
Several trade unions have come out against Mr Miliband because of fears his net zero policies will damage jobs, while some in the City fear he could introduce spending plans that would destabilise the markets.
Asked whether she thought Mr Miliband would be good at running the Treasury, Ms Powell said: “Yes, I do actually, but actually I think this is a slightly distracting conversation, because I think we’ve all got a really important job to do.”
Front up to Parliament, Badenoch tells Burnham
On Sunday night, Mrs Badenoch accused Mr Burnham of failing to reveal enough detail about his policies and demanded he face MPs as soon as possible.
“Andy Burnham is days away from taking charge of the country and still has not told people the basics,” the Tory leader said.
“Will he stick to the Labour manifesto? Will he borrow even more money? Will he fund the Defence Investment Plan so that our country is not at risk?
“The new prime minister should come to Parliament and set out his priorities before summer recess. This only needs one extra day.
“A speech full of warm words to a friendly crowd is not a substitute for speaking at the Despatch Box, where MPs can question the substance of what he has said.
“If Andy Burnham wants to lead the country, he should be brave enough to answer MPs representing the length and breadth of the country on his plans for all our lives.
“Britain should not have to wait until September to find out what he intends to do – unless of course he himself does not know yet.”
*Published first on The Telegraph
By: N. Peter Kramer
