Burnham provided 'error-filled' article about devolution, says WalesOnline

A Welsh news site says Andy Burnham provided an "error-filled" article for publication spelling out his pitch to Wales.

WalesOnline says the team working for the Labour MP provided a piece for publication that were similar to essays written for London and Scotland, but with the names of places changed.

The article said Burnham, who is expected to become PM later this month, wanted to take action on housing, business rates and education - all of which are controlled by the Plaid Cymru Welsh government.

A Plaid MS, Carrie Harper, called it a "copy and paste opinion piece".

The MP has promised a "collaborative" relationship with the Welsh government. Burnham's team was asked for comment.

The newly elected MP for Makerfield is currently the only candidate in the running to replace Sir Keir Starmer as the leader of the Labour Party, and could become the prime minister on 20 July.

In a major speech last week, Burnham promised to shift power away from Westminster to the nations and regions.

WalesOnline said it initially refused to publish without a disclaimer that much of the article was misleading. It has now published it, with a column criticising the article.

Both the Scotsman and the London Standard published similar articles from Burnham last week, promising a "new direction for the country".

Both articles said: "We need a new determination to raise living standards for every single person in this land. To do that, to fix the economy and the country, we need to change politics, and we need to do it now."

In a WalesOnline column calling the opinion piece "error-filled", the Welsh news website said it was offered a "Welshified version of this piece".

"We didn't run the piece we were offered as it was confused about where power and responsibility lies in Wales," the news site's political editor Ruth Mosalski wrote.

"It listed promises about housing, education and transport even though these are all things that are devolved to Wales - and for which the Plaid Cymru government is now responsible."

Some parts of the different versions of the article were different.

All three said: "Growth cannot be ordered from the top down. It can only be nurtured from the bottom up."

In Scotland, Burnham wrote that meant "backing energy, shipbuilding, manufacturing and public services". In Wales this was "steel, ports, energy and manufacturing", and in London "housing, transport, skills and public services".

But many paragraphs are the same. Some sentences are the same in all three but have the names of places changed.

Both the London and Wales versions said: "Everyone can feel the country is not where it should be. People feel it in their bills, their rent, their high streets, their transport, and at the end of every month when there is less and less left over."

The WalesOnline Burnham article continued: "In Wales, that feeling has its own shape. It is felt in Merthyr. It is felt in Rhyl. Port Talbot feels it. It is felt in towns like Wrexham, communities like the Valleys, and places that have waited too long for politics to work for them."

The London version said: "In London, that feeling has its own shape. It is felt in Newham. It is felt in Brent. Croydon feels it. It is felt in towns like Barking, communities like Tottenham, and in places that have waited too long for politics to work for them."

All three said Burnham will set out a 10-year plan "to bring down the cost" of essentials, including "housing, energy and transport".

Housing policy in Wales is led by the Plaid Cymru government, as are roads, buses and some rail policy.

Burnham also promised to reform business rates in Scotland, London and Wales - business rates are set in Scotland and Wales by their respective devolved governments.

In an Ask Me Anything event on internet forum Reddit last week, the former Greater Manchester mayor said he would like to be "as collaborative and pragmatic as possible" with the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

He promised to "speak soon" to the first ministers of all three countries "to agree a positive way of working to this end".

Speaking at a speech in Manchester last week, Burnham promised to devolve "deeper down" in Wales.

It was not clear what he meant, but there were suggestions at the time that he was referring to councils. Plaid's First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said there were "signs" he might want to bypass the Welsh and Scottish governments.

On Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement programme, interim Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates said the risk of bypassing Welsh ministers to devolve powers straight to councils was "nonexistent".

He said the Welsh government "should crack on with delivering services in Wales and show confidence in doing so".

Dafydd Trystan Davies, Plaid minister for the constitution, said on the same programme: "I'd hope that he will listen to voices within Wales and within Scotland that can put the case for devolution to our national governments here in Wales and in Scotland.

"There's a real opportunity to work in partnership there, a fresh start at a UK level and a fresh start in that relationship with the Welsh Government.

But he said it would be "very unfortunate indeed if Westminster chose to try and bypass our national Senedd and the Scottish Parliament and Scottish government.

"It would be a sign of no respect whatsoever".

In response to the article, Plaid's Carrie Harper said: "Andy Burnham talks a good talk when it comes to devolution, but his lazy, copy and paste opinion piece proves his understanding of the matter stops at Offa's Dyke.

"He has already backtracked on his commitment to fair funding for Wales, and now he threatens to undermine our democracy."