Andy Burnham wants to manage Britain from Manchester on a part-time basis.
The would-be prime minister yesterday said a new ‘No 10 North’ outpost would be the ‘nerve centre’ of his government, and friends of the ex-Manchester mayor say he plans to spend a day or two a week in his former northern fiefdom when his schedule allows.
Mr Burnham also intends to shun a move to Downing Street, keeping his family home near Wigan and using No 10 only when he is working in the capital.
Set to be established as prime minister in a Labour coronation next month, Mr Burnham – in his first intervention since returning to Parliament – set out a Left-wing manifesto, including a massive new wave of council-house building, a focus on factory jobs and state control of the utilities.
He claimed the moves could revive the ‘working-class aspiration’ of the 1970s.
The No 10 North outpost, he said, would be the ‘nerve centre of a rewired Britain’.
It would help fix Britain’s ‘broken’ political system and deliver ‘the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen’ in order to deliver ‘good growth in every postcode’, he added.
The Daily Mail revealed that Mr Burnham was eyeing up possible tax raids on middle-class southerners to finance his plans, including an annual property tax based on the value of family homes.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said his agenda amounted to ‘more tax’ so that he could ‘send money to the North of England to try and bribe voters at the next election’.
Security experts have warned it could cost the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds a year to replicate the fortress-level No 10 security in the North.
Both Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak considered staying in their London family homes while serving as prime minister, but were informed that it was not feasible due to the duties of the position.
Some government insiders worry Mr Burnham’s plans could also accelerate Whitehall’s working-from-home culture, with more officials choosing to ‘dial in’ when the PM is out of the capital, but Mr Burnham said the plan was central to his vision for rolling out devolved government throughout England.
One friend told the Mail: ‘He will not be using No 10 as his main home, he’ll be staying in Golborne.
‘He said if he was elected prime minister, he wouldn’t forget where he was from, and he meant it.’
Another supporter said: ‘This isn’t just part of a political strategy. It’s who Andy Burnham is. He isn’t just from the North, he’s of the North. It made him.’
Mr Burnham has escaped scrutiny since his thumping by-election win in Makerfield, which started a coup against Sir Keir.
With possible Labour rivals falling by the wayside, he looks set to become prime minister on July 20, despite not having stood at the 2024 election.
In a tightly controlled appearance in front of the cameras in Manchester, Mr Burnham insisted his plans were ‘consistent with the 2024 manifesto’ which delivered Labour’s landslide. Still, he again declined to take questions from the media about how he will govern and who he will establish in his top team.
Ironically, aides argued he was unable to answer questions because the self-styled ‘King of the North’ was in a rush to get back to London.
Addressing an audience of Labour activists, Mr Burnham acknowledged that his devolution drive could take a decade to deliver a sustained increase in living standards. Still, he insisted that a radical rewiring of the state was essential to rebuilding Britain.
‘Westminster hasn’t been working for people, and it hasn’t been working for a very long time,’ he said.
‘In fact, it is broken. And, as a result, the country isn’t where it should be. It is stuck in a rut.
‘We cannot go through another decade like the one we have just had. We need a new determination to raise living standards of every person in this land.’
Mr Burnham’s address was light on policy detail. But he vowed to deliver a world where there was ‘good growth in every postcode and hope in every heart’, delivered by mayors with new powers over tax, housing and welfare.
Hinting at more immediate help on the cost of living in a Budget this autumn, he added: ‘While not taking risks with the public finances, I will seek to give Britain some breathing space as soon as I can.’
Nigel Farage warned that Britain could not afford to wait another decade for change to be delivered.
The Reform UK leader pointed to experience in Wales and Scotland that devolution does not automatically deliver better growth or public services.
Mr Farage said: ‘Just to give more and more powers, including tax-raising powers, to mayors across the country won’t of itself stop the boats; it won’t deal with the national debt.
‘He says it will take ten years to lift Britain back up. Those of us who believe Britain is broken would say we have not got ten years.
‘The country will be completely unrecognisable in ten years. The country wants immediate action.’
Mrs Badenoch said Mr Burnham’s plans amounted to ‘more and more government (being) created all over the country’, adding: ‘More politicians, more outsourcing of decisions to bodies with even less scrutiny and accountability.
‘He doesn’t have a plan beyond telling mayors to go and sort it out. This is not good enough.’
This man seems overly arrogant, has no mandate, is not elected, and declines to respond to any questions, but let’s give it two months and let’s see how little Andy is rated.
This is a northerner who doesn’t even seem to like London, and we are going to have him as our prime minister. It doesn’t give us much confidence, does it? And this will cost the taxpayer, which means he will be squandering money for a 3-year appointment until the next General Election.
And why does he avoid answering questions? Is it because he has no answers?
A General Election is exactly what we need, and we need one right now!
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 