Andy Burnham has made his first major policy speech since launching his bid to become prime minister
He says he will "take power out of the centre", with an expansion of the prime minister's office to Manchester - what he calls "No 10 North"
Describing it as the "nerve centre of a re-wired Britain", he says the expanded office will be the "conduit" to "redistribute power and resources across the UK"
Burnham says there is an imbalance in resources between national and local governments, and promises "the biggest re-balancing the country has seen" - while pledging to stick to existing fiscal rules
He also promises the biggest council house building programme since "the post-war period"; reform of business rates and the High Street; and to bring down the welfare bill "in a way which is fair and lasting"
Earlier, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urged Burnham to come to Parliament to face scrutiny - adding that his plans seem to be "old hat"
If no other Labour MP makes a leadership bid, Burnham is expected to become prime minister on 20 July
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.
Dharshini David
Deputy economics editor
Image source, ReutersPut 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:
Image source, PA MediaBurnham 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".
Image source, Reuters"Manchesterism," Burnham says, "is a vision for good growth and a rejection of the old trickle down model".
Burnham says all parts of the UK "should be given the chance to develop their own version of the same".
"Good growth in every British post code," he says, and "places no longer forgotten or written off like they have in the past."
He continues and adds there should be "powers for rural economies" to address issues specific to them like "inadequate transport".
And Burnham says there should also be more powers for areas undergoing industrial transition and proud coastal towns, along with more powers for London "over education and housing".
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Image source, PA MediaIt’s little surprise that Andy Burnham chose to give his first speech as the presumptive prime minister in Manchester. His speech began with affectionate reminiscences about the past nine years he has spent as the combined authority mayor.
It’s also little surprise that in announcing that he wants to move a major part of the prime minister’s office out of London, he has chosen Manchester. This new "No 10 North" sounds like a really substantial part of the civil service, rather than just a handful of staff.
Burnham has been at pains to describe his vision of "Manchesterism" as a blueprint for other areas, praising the "positives in all places and all postcodes" in the UK, vowing to help rural areas and boost coastal communities.
And London, he said, is the world’s greatest capital city.
That may have been a response to the sprinkling of unease - no stronger than that - that is already being expressed by some of the many Labour MPs who represent seats in London and the south-east of England about Burnham’s strong association with the north-west.
I was speaking to a minister earlier who said it is crucial for Labour’s electoral fortunes that Burnham’s condemnation of the Westminster system is not perceived as a broader condemnation of the capital city itself.
Image source, PA MediaBurnham vows to bring about the "biggest rebalance of power our country has seen".
He adds that Whitehall must accept "growth cannot be ordered from top down" but must instead be ordered from the "bottom up".
This must include giving businesses "stability and confidence" to invest, committing to "decent" infrastructure in all parts of the UK and providing security for a good home and good employment, he says.
Simon Jack
Business editor
Despite an early mention of former Labour left wing leader Michael Foot, Andy Burnham's reference to his economic model being based on "sound finances" and "the discipline of our fiscal rules" have seen no adverse reaction - in fact a small positive one measured by the cost of government borrowing - to Burnham's vision for, in his words, "the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen".
The former Greater Manchester mayor says a greater sense of unity in Parliament will allow a "clearer sense of direction" to be given to Whitehall.
He says mayors will have felt frustration in recent years at departments constantly pushing back at their "legitimate requests".
Burnham adds that a stark imbalance in resources between national and local government is "holding back growth", describing local government as "threadbare" since the pandemic.
He says this is not just bad for councils and the areas they serve, but everywhere.
Image source, ReutersBurnham says it's "too hard" for politicians - including MPs in attendance - to make change.
"Because power is not in the hands of those places they represent. But held by an insufficiently accountable outsourced state."
He adds "we are one of the most over centralised countries", and that the "over-centralised part of the country is not pulling in the same way but in different directions".
He says he will "work hard" to "change that culture" - letting MPs "be authentic representatives", and involve "more people in the work of government".
Burnham says the political direction he will set is "not up for negotiation", but that he will "build an inclusive team at the very highest level".
Image source, GB News poolBurnham says he knows change can be achieved because "it has been done" in Manchester.
He adds as mayor, he put "place first, not party first", focused on "problem solving and not point scoring" and "long term, not short term".
Burnham adds those same principles need to be applied now to politics as a whole.
He adds Westminster and Whitehall are set up for conflict and require "radical change", saying he left government after realising it wasn't working for the north-west of England.
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Image source, GB news poolThis was billed as an economy speech, and it is.
But mixed in with Andy Burnham’s initial focus on living standards is something broader - a critique of the way that politics works in Westminster, which he describes as "broken".
Burnham criticises the "finger-pointing" of our political system, which he says was "dangerous" and "destructive of what remains of public trust in politics".
He is calling for a "more collaborative politics". That’s one of the arguments he is making for devolving power to local politicians across England.
He will make the economic case for that devolution too, but it is striking that he has started with a political and cultural case for it.
Image source, PA MediaBurnham goes on to say the UK needs a new "determination" to raise living standards, adding: "We need to change politics and we need to do it now."
"I am going to do things differently," he says.
He adds he is going to break with "more of the same" by building a more collaborative approach to politics in Westminster.
"I am going to give Britain the circuit breaker it needs."
Image source, PA MediaBurnham says the time has come "to build the broadest possible coalition of people" to build Britain back up "to where we want it to be".
He says the question he wants to answer clearly today is: "What hope can we have that it will be different this time?"
"After 10 years of political turbulence since Brexit" and 20 years "of falling living standards" since the financial crash, "Westminster hasn't been working for people, and it hasn't been working for a very long time", he says.
He adds: "My generation of politicians, including me, must take responsibility - we haven't been good enough."
Image source, PA MediaAndy Burnham takes to the stage to a large round of applause, and asks the crowd: "Are you ready for this?"
He thanks people for their support and, speaking in Manchester, says "I will never forget what this place did for me", adding "it's been such a wrench to leave".
