A brief look at Burnham's record on buses in Manchesterpublished at 16:03 BST

16:03 BST

Image source, Getty Images

By Ben Chu

Earlier today, Andy Burnham set out his plans for a No 10 North, which he said would help local leaders take greater “public control” of housing, transport, water and energy.

Burnham’s most significant policy on transport as mayor of Greater Manchester has been to use new legal powers to end the post-1980s system of deregulated and privatised bus services and to bring various services under the control of Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) in 2023.

The new franchising system is known as the "Bee Network".

The network is being rolled out in stages, so the full data needed to evaluate whether it has been successful is not yet available.

However, the latest official statistics show an increase in journeys in Greater Manchester since the Bee Network rollout began, although this was continuing a bounce back after the slump in the Covid pandemic.

TfGM has set a target of 200 million annual journeys by 2030. Current passenger trends suggest the target will be achieved.

Angus Cochrane
BBC Scotland senior political reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Andy Burnham’s speech has been met with what could generously be described as scepticism from Scottish politicians.

SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan says there is “nothing of substance” in the proposals, arguing they would do nothing to “fundamentally improve people's lives”.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay says Burnham needs to "flesh out" the details on any further devolution.

He adds: "Weak Labour politicians seem incapable of understanding that they'll never pacify the SNP by constantly extending devolution."

Scottish Green local government spokesperson Kristopher Leask describes the speech as “short on policy, leaving people in Scotland with more questions than answers”.

"Burnham is right that the UK is far too centralised, but this was clearly a speech aimed at the English regions, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland treated as an afterthought," he says.

Image source, PA

Political leaders have been responding to Andy Burnham's vision for the country.

This morning, we heard from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, whosays the UK is heading for a "summer of chaos" and that Burnham's proposals are not radical or new but "old hat".

Meanwhile, Ed Davey says "we urgently need to shift power out of Whitehall and into the hands of local communities".

The Liberal Democrat leader says this means giving people and councils a real say over their areas rather than a "one-size-fits-all answer from the top".

Green party leader Zack Polanski says in a post on X that "rebalancing power is vital - but what good are powers if you can't afford to use them?"

He asks if Burnham will ditch "the broken electoral system," protect the poorest with a "real wealth tax", and "end the gutting of local authorities budgets".

Reform UK's Robert Jenrick says that Burnham has not even walked into No 10 and he is already playing for time. He tells GB News that people can not wait 10 years but want to see "radical change now".

The first minister of Wales, Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap lorwerth, says that No 10 North "means very little to the people of Wales".

SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan claimed the former Greater Manchester mayor was “making the same empty promises” to Scotland “while keeping all of Westminster’s most damaging policies – Brexit, austerity cuts and Tory spending rules”.

Burnham sets out his idea of 'Manchesterism' but key details still to comepublished at 14:36 BST

14:36 BST

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, Reuters

This was Andy Burnham very much playing a home fixture here in Manchester to an audience of supporters and a front row of mayors.

Here was a former mayor arguing that mayors and others deserve considerably more power.

That was the controlling thought of the whole speech - this idea which Burnham calls "Manchesterism".

His diagnosis is that devolution to the nations and English regions has not given those on the ground sufficient power.

This was a big picture speech and many of the key details are still to come.

The idea Burnham has is that he will have a branch of his No 10 office in Manchester that will be absolutely essential, he argues, to the devolution agenda.

He went out of his way to try and address the concerns that someone in Cornwall or the northern tip of Scotland, where Manchester may be just as distant as London, may have.

The argument he is trying to make is this is about a mindset detached from Westminster.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

The first minister of Wales, Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth, has criticised Burnham's vow to move some Downing Street functions to Manchester.

"A Number 10 of the North will mean very little to the people of Wales," he says.

He said that regardless of who leads the UK government, he will make the case for "fair funding" and for Wales to have the same powers as Scotland, as a "bare minimum".

Meanwhile the Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick warned Wales was being left at the "back of the queue" for more powers.

"If Labour can find the ambition to devolve powers across England, they should have the ambition to give Wales the same powers as Scotland," he said.

Andy Burnham's reformed education budget for the country's regions will see a greater emphasis placed on developing the skills young people need for "the jobs of the future", the deputy leader of the Labour Party has said.

Lucy Powell tells Radio 4's World at One programme: "We know what that pipeline is but we're not able to shape the skills supply in our area so that young people can really go straight into those new opportunities that we know are coming."

Speaking from Manchester Piccadilly station, she says No 10 North will be a "really powerful reimagining" of government machinery to give areas the power and resources they need.

Image source, Reuters

Paul Bristow, the Conservative mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, says Burnham's speech today raises more questions than it does answers, adding that there is currently a "psychodrama" in the Labour Party.

He tells World at One that mayors want a focus on other parts of the country, not just the north, in regions such as the East of England, "where we're net contributors to the economy, rather than net recipients".

Paul Seddon
Politics reporter

Image source, Reuters

The central theme of the speech was devolution of power away from Westminster, while making central government “more streamlined”.

Key to his plans is the creation of a new No 10 unit based in Manchester, which he said would help local leaders take greater “public control” of housing, transport, water and energy.

Another big theme was housing, where he repeated his promise to deliver the biggest programme of council house building since the post-war period.

Specific proposals mentioned included promoting building on vacant public land to reduce costs, and promoting higher density residential development in towns.

Burnham said he wanted to bring down welfare spending, but did not outline cuts to specific benefits. Instead, he said expenditure could be reduced in a “fair and lasting” way by giving regional mayors more power over employment support schemes, and greater “in work” mental health support.

After nearly a decade outside Parliament, he also laid out an ambition to change the political culture at Westminster, including to the ‘whipping’ system of party management, which he argued had been used to “create fear” and shut down debate.

He also said he wanted to end an “adversarial” culture in Whitehall, in which government departments battle the Treasury for cash.

He made a pledge to restore “sovereign manufacturing” capabilities in sectors such as steel, defence, energy and farming. He said this could be achieved by offering British firms greater chances to win government contracts, in exchange for offering more work placements.

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

The general approach from Burnham seems to be to take what has happened in fast-growing Greater Manchester, where he has been mayor for 10 years, and to try to apply it across the UK in very broad terms.

The list of things he wants to change was fairly extraordinary: a new renaissance on our high streets, changed business rates, apprenticeships for all, new transport infrastructure, housebuilding, as well as a “little bit” more help with living costs - there's a little hint there potentially at some small tax cuts, dare I say.

All the while saying we're going to stick to the fiscal rules.

The central argument there is about how Britain is wired and run. The power of Whitehall will be “streamlined” and flow to the cities and regions, closer to the people, as occurs in major European economies.

This devolution revolution is not the central focus of the political-economical debate that we have had in the UK over the past few years. It is not the first thing businesses mention as holding back growth, though many will appreciate a general tone of upbeat optimism.

There are many detailed questions about what this would actually mean in practice, and how universally applicable is a model that has worked for an international city.

It appears we will have to wait for that detail, alongside the cast list for cabinet including the chancellor, for a few weeks yet.

Image source, PA Media

Akash Paun, who leads the devolution programme for the Institute for Government think tank, says he welcomes "the direction of travel" set out by Burnham, but that there is "a huge amount more detail we'll wait to hear".

Paun says by talking about "a fundamental rewiring and rebalancing of the state and a new way of delivering growth across the country", Burnham is "raising the expectations" of seeing something "quite different to what we've seen before".

"He's building on a devolution process that's been under way over the past decade," Paun says.

But he adds Burnham needs to give more detail about the scale of his plans.

"Is he intending new mayoralties and strategic authorities all across the country?" Paun adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Andy Burnham has vowed to bring about the "biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen" in his first major policy speech since launching his bid to become prime minister.

In a wide ranging speech at the People's History Museum in Manchester, Burnham says:

• He will "take the power out of the centre" and create what he calls "No 10 North," expanding the PM's office to Manchester
• Burnham described No 10 North as the "nerve centre of a rewired Britain" and says that it will be about “offering new opportunities to extend devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by taking power deeper down"
• "The people of Dundee and Bangor feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster," Burnham said

• The country is in a "housing trap" and No 10 North will oversee "the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period"

• He will stick to the existing fiscal rules and says create a more streamlined state with a "laser-like focus on growth and regeneration"
• He will bring down the welfare bill "in a way that is fair and lasting"

Burnham's decentralisation strategy is bold - but a gamble, writes our deputy economics editor, while our chief political correspondent says No 10 North sounds like a substantial part of the civil service.

Unions will welcome promise to favour UK businesses in procurementpublished at 12:25 BST

12:25 BST

Simon Jack
Business editor

The private consortium trying to take control of Thames Water will not have enjoyed a section of the speech where Burnham promises greater regional control of vital utilities including water, housing, energy and transport.

Unions will approve of a promise to favour UK businesses when it comes to procurement - including defence.

Decentralisation strategy is bold - but a gamblepublished at 12:21 BST

12:21 BST

Dharshini David
Deputy economics editor

Image source, Reuters

Put more money in pockets: Andy Burnham's economic goal is no different to Keir Starmer's.

The difference is how he wants to achieve it.

Over 90% of tax revenues go to the Treasury, central government.

It makes the UK the most centralised of any major economy.

Yet OECD statistics suggest that the more decentralised countries are, the more decisions taken at a regional or local level, the higher wages tend to be.

That underpins Burnham's vision.

The question is exactly how it’ll work - and crucially, if mayors and local authorities have the know-how and motivation.

You can give people more money, but they have to spend it wisely to deliver results.

It's a bold strategy - but a gamble.

It is, after all, a feeling that the economy has failed to deliver which means we are now looking at a seventh prime minister within a decade.

Simon Jack
Business editor

Burnham has promised major reform of business rates to revive high streets - as they are a barometer for the success and happiness of UK regions.

Business rates currently raise around £27bn - half of which goes to local authorities, half to central government.

A cut to rates bills would mean less money for either central government, local government, or both.

But listening to the rest of the speech you'd have to bet that local authorities would not be the ones to take a hit.

Burnham says he will introduce a national housing-first philosophy and will seek to regenerate the nation's towns and highstreets.

He says he will reform business rates to support pubs and high street businesses, asking "shouldn't we make highstreets a symbol of Britain's renaissance?"

"Ours is a 10-year mission to raise living standards," Burnham says, adding "people can't wait forever".

He says he will not take risks with public finances and seek to give Britain "breathing space" as soon as I can.

Burnham ends his speech by saying "imagine good growth in every postcode and hope in every heart".

He then finishes with: "Imagine no more, let's make it happen."

He ends without taking questions.

Burnham says the country is "in a housing trap", saying what he describes as a housing crisis is having a "ruinous" impact on the UK's public finances.

He adds that Number 10 north will oversee "the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period".

Burnham says every pound raised from tax payers will "work harder for them", which will apply "fully" to the Defence Investment Plan.

He says he will make sure all eligible public contracts are subject to "proper social value weighting" and will make sure British based companies are in a better position to win those contracts.

He also says there needs to be "a rethink" in education.

"The days of a school system configured entirely around the university route will be brought to an end," he says.

He asks "when will we focus on life chances" of kids who "want something different".

Burnham says they will be "giving every young person a clear path into a reindustrialised Britain".

"We will answer the call for devolution of employment support," he says, adding "this is the difference mayors can make".

"In doing that, we will reduce the welfare bill in a way which is fair and lasting."

To more applause, Burnham says as mayor he has fought the "Whitehall machine" for 10 years and he will not the accept that for any other area.

"The whole of Whitehall will now be required to get behind our places," he says.

He adds it's a "10-year mission" to raise living standards "across the land".

To do this, he says No 10 North will support the regions on three tasks which he describes as:

1. Reform of essential utilities
2. Reindustrialisation
3. Regeneration of places

Image source, PA Media

Burnham says the job of his so called "No 10 North" will be to make power flow into different regions across the UK.

"No 10 North will be the nerve centre of a rewired Britain," he says.

It will be the "conduit" through which power and resources are redistributed across the UK, he adds.

He adds "No 10 North" will be given a mission to deliver equivalent living conditions in all parts of Britain and make place-based collaboration the "new operating principle".

Burnham says his pledges will be backed from the stability of "sound public finances" and the discipline of the current fiscal rules, adding that this promises "a new era of possibility for Britain".

He says this will be the biggest change in our lifetimes in how the country is run, but it will remain consistent with Labour's 2024 manifesto.

The former mayor says he will create a streamlined state with clear purpose, powering up all parts of the country with a "laser-like focus on growth and regeneration".

He adds this change will be driven through the prime minister's office "in an extended operation based here in Manchester".