Burnham says ‘break with austerity’ and Graham says we can’t ‘wait for growth’

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has called for a “decisive break with austerity” and an early government commitment to Northern Powerhouse, while Unite leader Sharon Graham has warned Labour must “borrow to invest”.

Burnham said on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that commitment to the Northern Powerhouse would “lay the foundations for a second Labour term” stating “if people in the North of England see change come through in a Parliament they will stick with this government for the long haul”. He said that would involve starting on a new Liverpool-Manchester railway. 

He was also asked about the two-child benefit cap. Burnham said he understood Starmer can’t “just go out and make commitments”.

READ MORE: Tony Blair calls for Keir Starmer to be tough on immigration, crime and ‘wokeism’

Yet he added: “As and when, keep these matters under review, but we really want to have a decisive break with the austerity of the last 14 years, that has been so punishing for so many people in our country”.

Burnham also said he would like Manchester to build its share of the 1.5 million new homes promised by Labour and that he wants a “large number” of those to be council homes. 

Meanwhile Unite leader Sharon Graham also told the programme people were “literally hurting” and that “crumbling public services need money”.

She seemed to question Labour’s focus on growth to fund public services and its fiscal rules, saying government fiscal rules had changed repeatedly since 1997 and arguing “we haven’t got time to wait for growth”.

READ MORE: Jonathan Reynolds says Labour not ‘harking back to any era’ as Alexander and Smith return and Blair speaks out

The leader of Unite, one of Labour’s major donors, said there shouldn’t be a choice between “pensioners and children”, and our “completely unfair society” with high levels of wealth inequality “has to be looked at”.

Later on she said: “I’d like them to be like a 1945 transformational government.” She expects Labour to “rise to the challenge”, but “I’ll be on their tail to make sure”.

She warned that Labour will “have to borrow to invest if we’re going to invest in British industry”, saying the government had “wiggle room” given its debt-to-GDP ratio is lower than the US.

Graham also said she might be seen as a “critical friend or a pain in the proverbial” for her focus on jobs, in the context of the threat to steel jobs at Port Talbot.

Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds pledged in his own interview in the same programme that support for Port Talbot would be a “major priority”, and said we had to ensure “decarbonisation is not deindustrialisation”, but declined to guarantee jobs.

Graham said job protection had to be a condition of investment, and she would “make sure feet are held to the fire” and keep an “eagle eye” on the detail of any government support.

Reynolds also said government involvement would not be about “underwriting loss-making business in the way we might have thought about in the past”.

Read more of our 2024 general election results coverage (article continues below):

Election night as it happened: Key results unpacked in historic landslide

Labour results tracker: Full list and map of Labour gains, holds, losses, new MPs

‘We did it’: Keir Starmer’s victory speech as Labour crosses key 326 seat line

‘A landslide masks discontent left, right and centre. Labour has its work cut out’

‘What should we look for in Keir Starmer’s cabinet?’

‘Keir Starmer is at the peak of his power. How should he make the most of it?’

Read more on how the night unfolded:

Liz Truss loses South West Norfolk: Beaten by a lettuce, beaten by Labour

Scotland results: Labour makes big gains as SNP obliterated

Wales results: Labour bags 27 of 32 seats as Tories wiped off the map

Red Wall: Gains in Stoke, Grimsby, Redcar, Workington, Hartlepool, Barrow, Bishop Auckland, Darlington, Bolsover

Jacob Rees-Mogg: Senior Tory loses seat as Labour mayor Dan Norris wins

Gaza: Jon Ashworth loses in Leicester as independents win Blackburn and Batley

Islington North: Jeremy Corbyn holds on in strong result over Labour

Nuneaton, Stevenage, Swindon, Worcester: Labour wins in key bellwether marginals

Read more on what could come next for Labour in power:

100 days: What happens during the first 100 days of a Labour government?

Delivering pledges: ‘Change is hard – how can Labour achieve it?’

Manifesto: ‘12 great policies you may never have heard of’

Foreign affairs: ‘Whatever happens to Biden, Starmer faces a US challenge’

Trilemma: IFS warns Starmer will likely have to pick cuts, debt or tax hikes

Read more on how Labour fought this campaign in key battlegrounds:

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