Burnham promises more devolution and public control of essential services

Labour Prime Minister Commits to Devolution and Expanded Public Control

< p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">Andy Burnham has pledged comprehensive plans to strengthen public oversight of essential services after addressing the House of Commons for the first time since taking office.

As Prime Minister, Burnham highlighted a sequence of misguided decisions dating back to the 1980s, noting that economic power was privatized and the welfare model suffered as a result.

He emphasized that political authority had become overly centralized and announced his intention to grant devolution powers to additional regions across England.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch responded sharply, accusing Burnham of advocating for increased government intervention, higher taxation, and more bureaucratic machinery.

“His analysis is fundamentally mistaken and his economic theory flawed,” Badenoch declared. “If governments increase spending simply because budgets allow, people do not benefit—a principle that does not drive prosperity.”

She further cautioned that Burnham’s transformation from former Mayor of Greater Manchester, where he managed operations without heavy financial sacrifice, will require considerably more complex decision‑making.

Since assuming the premiership on 20 July following a winter parliamentary recess, Burnham seized his inaugural session opportunity.

At a televised address to MPs, he declared that Britain currently lags behind its aspirations but vowed to foster renewed optimism for the nation.

Having sat outside Parliament for ten years, Burnham said he returned with an explicit assessment of structural failures.

He recalled a trajectory of poor choices: successive governments centralized authority, turned economic assets into private hands, initiated deindustrialisation, imposed austerity, hollowed out local councils, and stripped them of operational capacity.

The subsequent breakaway Vote Referendum on Brexit added a decade of stagnant growth and stagnated regional renewal.

Prior to his elevation, Burnham avoided full nationalisation rhetoric yet expressed support for heightened public involvement in water management and energy provision.

Tonight, however, he underscored that such solutions would be examined prospectively later in the year.

Under pressure from Conservatives MP Alison Griffiths regarding water sector reform, Burnham stressed the necessity of exploring every viable option.

“The reality that water has been privatised leaving us unable to easily correct institutional weaknesses is deeply unfortunate,” he noted.

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