Andy Burnham: ‘The rewiring of Britain has begun’

Boldly, confidently, authentically Labour.

That’s the government that I promised you two weeks ago – a government with a clear political direction, rooted in the values our movement was built on.

It’s only been a fortnight – but that promise is already starting to take shape.

Because what we’ve announced so far are all part of the same foundational idea. They’re all part of a philosophy that I’ve been building from the day I decided to get into politics over 25 years ago.

To understand the Britain I’m trying to build, you’ve first got to understand the Britain I’m trying to change.

READ MORE: The ‘Burnham bounce’

For forty years, places that were once the pride of this country have been left to decline. Skilled trades have been undervalued. Too many young people have been left feeling they had to leave the place they loved to build a future. And too many communities have been expected to accept decisions made hundreds of miles away in Westminster. 

That’s not the Britain Labour was founded to build. Over a century ago, Keir Hardie set up the Labour Party because working class voices were being ignored by the more powerful ones in Westminster. His philosophy was that that power should be shared, not hoarded. And that opportunity shouldn’t be concentrated in a handful of places, but spread to every town, city and community.

Sound familiar? I hope so. Because it’s that same philosophy that’s run through everything we’ve done in our first fortnight.

Last Friday, I announced the biggest devolution of power to mayors in modern English history.

For the first time ever, those mayors will get to keep a share of the income tax generated in their regions. And instead of Westminster deciding how every pound should be spent, local people will. That’s on top of brand-new devolved powers over transport, housing, skills, employment support and public services.

I’m not going to be shy about it: this is the start of a complete rewiring of economic and political power in Britain.

It’s an end to the system of local leaders coming cap in hand to Westminster, asking for permission to solve the problems they know best. Instead, if ministers think powers should stay in Whitehall, they’ll have to explain why. And where they can’t make the case, those powers will be handed to the communities they’re meant to serve.

That’s the bold, confident Labour that Britain needs.

And wherever issues have been ignored by Whitehall for too long, we’re stepping in – starting with technical education, social care and rough sleeping.

On education, we’re rebuilding the ladders of opportunity that decades of deindustrialisation kicked out from under our kids’ feet.

One of the most damning consequences of industrial decline in this country is that thousands of talented young people have been taught that if their strengths are practical rather than academic, they’re somehow second best.

I won’t allow that. That’s why, from the age of fourteen, we are giving kids a new option in school: keeping core maths, English and science, but combining them with real, hands-on technical education.

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From now on, we’ll teach our kids there’s more than one route to success. The Britain we build together will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap.

On adult social care, politicians of every stripe have acknowledged it’s broken, promised to fix it, and yet kicked the problem into the long grass.

We’re not doing that. We’re beginning the work of building a National Care Service that treats care as a public good, values the people who provide it, and gives every older and vulnerable person the dignity they deserve. And if that costs me political capital – then that’s exactly what political capital is for.

And on rough sleeping, we’re committing to ending it. Plain and simple.

Because for too long, politicians have treated it like something to step around rather than solve.

Every person sleeping rough has a name, a story and a future. Our job is to make sure they have to chance to rebuild it.

Of course, I know that rewiring Britain won’t happen overnight. And I can’t ask families to have hope about tomorrow when they’re struggling to pay the bills today.

That’s why the first decisions I took as Prime Minister were to cut VAT on electricity bills and cap bus fares at £2. That’s not ‘job done’ – far from it. But it’s a message from me that this government will do everything it can to give people the breathing space they need to start believing in Britain again.

So that’s our first two weeks.

Working to cut bills, rebuild industry, back young people, fix social care, end rough sleeping, and shift power.

Westminster hasn’t been working for people across Britain for a long time.

But in a fortnight, we’ve begun to change that. 

And we’re just getting started.

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