Andy Burnham put the South and the wealthy on notice today vowing a ‘new direction’ as his takeover in Downing Street looms.
The PM-in-waiting is giving his first big speech in Manchester this morning, pledging to move power and money to the North, East and Midlands.
He said the country had not been run ‘for the many’ and he wanted to put ‘hope in every heart’ with the ‘biggest rebalancing’ away from Westminster ever seen.
Promised to end the ‘old, trickle down’ system and replace it with ‘Manchesterism’, Mr Burham said a ‘No10 North’ based in the city would be the ‘nerve centre’ for his changes.
But the overwhelming Labour leadership favourite dodged giving any hard details of his plans – and did not even take questions from the media. The Daily Mail’s sketchwriter Quentin Letts was barred from attending.
That has sparked a furious response with condemnation that Mr Burnham thinks he can have ‘power without accountability’. He has repeatedly fled journalists’ attempts to ask about his policies since winning the Makerfield by-election.
However, Tony Blair’s former spin chief Alastair Campbell said it was a good move because reporters would make it ‘more about them and their ”take” than him’.
The presumptive PM has already had to conduct a series of humiliating U-turns. They include dropping a promise of £10billion compensation for so-called Waspi women within hours, and admitting he will not try to rejoin the EU.
The set-piece speech – pompously tagged a ‘foundational text’ by allies – comes as Mr Burnham closes in on No10.
He will succeed Keir Starmer in a ‘coronation’ on July 20 barring the unlikely emergence of a rival challenger. There will not even be a full vote of MPs or party members.
But despite his lack of mandate, the former Greater Manchester mayor will demand ten years in power.
As the changeover in Downing Street nears:
- Mr Burnham said he would give Britain ‘breathing space’ against rising costs ‘as soon as I can’ while pledging not to take ‘risks’ with the public finances;
- Kemi Badenoch has warned of a ‘summer of chaos’ as Mr Burnham works out what he wants to do;
- The Tory leader said Mr Burnham ‘doesn’t understand what he’s talking about’ after he suggested a ‘No10 North’ based in Manchester;
- Analysis has found that a ‘wealth tax’ being pushed by senior Labour figures would actually wipe billions of pounds off Treasury revenues;
- MPs have dismissed suggestion that the whipping system at Parliament can be abandoned.
Andy Burnham is putting the South and the wealthy on notice today as he gears up for Downing Street
Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell was among the senior figures at the speech today
Mr Burnham will take over from Keir Starmer (pictured) on July 20 barring the unlikely emergence of a rival challenger
The speech is taking place at the People’s History Museum in Manchester. A blue jacket worn by Mr Burnham when he railed against Covid restrictions in 2020 was previously on display there, but is currently in storage.
Mr Burnham said the country ‘is stuck in a rut and clearly it cannot go on like this’. ‘We need to change politics and we need to do it now,’ he added.
‘I am going to break with the more of the same approach… I am going to give Britain the circuit breaker it needs.’
Mr Burnham put devolution at the heart of his programme, insisting transferring powers and money to the North from Whitehall will help to generate ‘good growth in every postcode’.
That could include mayors being able to raise more tax as well as having greater control over welfare and post-16 education.
There are fears the blueprint, being worked on by potential Chancellor Ed Miliband, will mean a string of new tax hikes focused on better-off families in the South.
Mr Burnham has previously backed a property tax that will punish those with more valuable homes, as well as an increase in capital gains tax and a new ‘death tax’ to fund social care.
He has stridently supported a revaluation of council tax that could result in huge increases in bills in London and the South East.
Mr Burnham announced he wants to create a ‘No10 of the North’ in Manchester – where he was mayor until winning the Makerfield by-election.
As PM he would spend a significant proportion of his time there, despite warnings it would require a hugely expensive security operation replicating that at the real No10. It is also unclear how he would be accountable to Parliament at short notice if he was in Manchester.
Some Labour MPs are nervous at the prospect of a North-South clash, fearing voters will be furious at being punished for where they live.
Mr Burnham argued that investment in regional infrastructure and technical education could pay dividends in 10 years.
He claimed the South could benefit in the long-run from giving the North more money.
‘We will bring about the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen.
‘It is time for Whitehall to accept that growth cannot be ordered from the top down. Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up.
‘It comes from having the power at ground level to make a real difference, from a clear shared vision that everyone can understand, and investors can back.
‘It comes from running sound finances, as we have done here in Greater Manchester, which in turn gives businesses the stability and the confidence to invest, increasing their productivity and adoption of new technology.
‘It comes from placing our universities at the heart of local economies, as all the mayors do, and bringing the innovation-led approach through start-ups and scale-ups. It comes from committing to decent infrastructure in all parts of the UK.’
Mr Burnham has backed Labour’s ‘fiscal rules’ but supporters believe they can be circumvented to borrow billions of pounds more.
The former Cabinet minister, who was an MP for 12 years before becoming mayor in 2017, admitted that his generation of politicians must take responsibility for the loss of public trust in politics.
‘Ours is a 10-year mission to raise people’s living standards,’ Mr Burnham said.
‘I know people can’t wait forever for change. I heard on doorsteps in Makerfield how people need a bit extra now to help with rising costs.
‘I will do my very best to deliver it, and whilst not taking risks with the public finances, will seek to give Britain some breathing space as soon as I can.
‘People need to be able to look forward to a night out or a holiday with the kids. People need hope.’
Meanwhile, frenzied speculation continues over the shape of Mr Burnham’s Cabinet – which he is not ready to announce.
Rachel Reeves appears to have conceded she will no longer be staying on as Chancellor.
Mr Miliband has been widely tipped to succeed her, but some unions, businesses and moderate Labour MPs have been trying to head off the appointment.
Mr Burnham said he would not announce any appointments until the end of the leadership election process.
‘While the political direction I set is not up for negotiation, I will build an inclusive team at the very highest level, so that all parts of the party and the country can see themselves reflected and represented in it,’ he said.
In a boost for Mr Miliband, deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell – a close Burnham ally – said she thought he would be good at running the Treasury. Mr Miliband was her boss when he was Labour leader.
Speculation is mounting that Mr Burnham could also bring back David Miliband, potentially to his old job as Foreign Secretary.
Kemi Badenoch has warned of a ‘summer of chaos’ as Mr Burnham works out what he wants to do
Ed Miliband has been widely tipped to succeed Rachel Reeves as Chancellor, but some unions, businesses and moderate Labour MPs have been trying to head off the appointment
Speculation is mounting that Mr Burnham could also bring back David Miliband, potentially to his old job as Foreign Secretary
That would reunite many of the senior figures from the New Labour era at the top of Government.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was ‘not good enough’ for Mr Burnham to lay out his plans without facing questions.
She has urged Mr Burnham to come to the Commons and set out his priorities before summer recess, due to begin on July 16 four days before he takes over in No10.
At her own speech this morning, Mrs Badenoch warned of a ‘summer of chaos’ and accused Mr Burnham of ‘allowing speculation and chaos to run and run’ with all the briefings about his plans.
She said he was trying to ‘bribe voters’ in the North, saying his rebalancing plans were just Boris Johnson’s Levelling Up agenda stripped of any role for the private sector.
‘They are not some radical new agenda, they are old hat’, she added.
Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride branded the emerging plans a ‘disaster’, adding: ‘We are about to see what a real Left-wing government looks like.
‘It’s clear that Burnham will double down on the mistakes Starmer and Reeves have made.
‘All the signs are that he has no ideas other than yet more borrowing, taxes and spending.’
The idea of a ‘No10 in the North’ has emerged as a symbol of the former Greater Manchester mayor’s determination to decentralise power from Westminster.
It has been compared to US President Donald Trump’s fondness for splitting his time between his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and the White House in Washington DC.
But Mr Burnham – who is on track to become PM as soon as July 17 – has been warned that creating a regular base in Manchester would be far from simple.
Philip Grindell, a former detective who advised Parliament on security for MPs after the killing of Jo Cox, said the site would need to replicate the security arrangements in place for the real No10.
That is on a gated street with bomb-proof infrastructure, scanning stations and 24-hour armed police on duty, among other measures.
The PM already has use of the Chequers country estate in Buckinghamshire.
One weary Government insider predicted the plan will be a debacle ‘like every other attempt’.
‘Everyone spends the working week in Westminster,’ they said. ‘It will just mean more people dialling in and doing f*** all work.’
