A former senior Labour minister has criticised Andy Burnham‘s plans to devolve political and economic power away from London, warning that making the capital poorer will not make Britain richer.
Steve Reed, who held several Cabinet posts under Sir Keir Starmer, lashed out at the Prime Minister’s ‘Manchesterism’ model and said it risked undermining support for the party outside of the North.
Mr Burnham is to set out a ten-year plan for Britain later this year that will apply what he learned as mayor of Greater Manchester to the rest of the country.
It is set to include giving metro mayors greater powers, including over tax and planning reform.
Since taking office Mr Burnham has criticised the deindustrialisation and privatisation of the 1980s, as well as the impact of austerity and Brexit on areas outside London and the South East.
But writing in The Times today, Mr Reed, the MP for Streatham and Croydon North in south London, said that ‘too many voters worry that Manchesterism means benefits for other regions at their expense’.
Steve Reed, who held several Cabinet posts under Sir Keir Starmer, lashed out at his successor’s ‘Manchesterism’ model
Mr Burnham is to set out a 10-year plan for Britain later this year that will apply what he learned through years of being mayor of Greater Manchester to the rest of the country
‘When power moves somewhere new, somewhere else has to lose it and that place is Parliament,’ he went on.
‘Labour has 59 MPs in London and a further 84 across the south of England – many more than the party holds in the Red Wall.
‘We can’t afford for voters in those areas to believe Labour wants to disadvantage London and the south in order to benefit other parts of the country.
‘The South isn’t uniformly well off. One in three of London’s children lives in poverty. And while average wages are higher in London, cripplingly high housing costs leave Londoners with lower disposable incomes than those in many other regions.
‘London MPs have shared concerns with me that London could be overlooked or misunderstood now all the senior ministers taking decisions about devolution represent the North.
‘But London’s economy drives the national economy, it’s bigger than the next eight biggest cities combined. You can’t make the rest of the country richer by making London poorer.’
In his first address to MPs after becoming PM, Mr Burnham said Britain needs to be ‘blunt’ about what has gone wrong in recent decades, and must spread power to people and places across the country to kickstart economic growth.
‘Unless we are blunt about what went wrong, we won’t turn things around. Far from taking back control, the combination of these policies took control out of the hands of communities up and down Britain,’ the Prime Minister told the Commons.
Taking back public control over services and utilities will be at the centre of the Government’s efforts to create economic growth, the Prime Minister said.
The 10-year plan for Britain, laid out later this year, will make the case for ‘stronger public control over these essentials, making them work for people and places again,’ Mr Burnham said.
Leading Greater Manchester as its mayor has ‘given me a clear theory of growth,’ Mr Burnham claimed, adding: ‘I will apply it to all parts of the UK learning from what has been achieved in Greater Manchester.’
