Britain is 'stuck in a rut': Andy Burnham sets out plans for 'new direction' and slams 'broken' Westminster politics
Burnham unveiled his '10 year plan' for Britain, including a 'No 10 North' as part of a redistribution of power and an overhaul of business rates to revive the high streets.
Andy Burnham has said Britain has been ‘stuck in a rut’ for decades due to ‘broken’ Westminster politics as he laid out his vision for the nation in his first speech since becoming the effective prime minister-in-waiting.
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He said Labour needs to “build the broadest possible coalition of people to lift Britain back up to where we all want it to be”.
“The time has come to build the broadest possible coalition of people to lift Britain back up to where we all want it to be.
“What hope can we have that it will be different this time? That’s the question I would be asking if I was a voter right now."
It comes as Burnham unveiled his 10-year plan for Britain as part of his speech, taking place at Manchester's People's History Museum, as he pledged to shift power to the North.
“After 10 years of political turbulence since Brexit and 20 years of falling living standards since the 2008 financial crash, Westminster has not been working for people, and it has not been working for a very long time.
“In fact, it is broken, and as a result, the country isn’t where it should be. It is stuck in a rut, and clearly we cannot go on like this. My generation of politicians, including me, must take responsibility.”
It is Mr Burnham’s first major speech since Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation.
'No 10 North' as Burnham branded it, would involve:
- Reform of essential utilities
- Reindustrialisation
- Regeneration of places
He went 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... I am going to give Britain the circuit breaker it needs."
In the speech he criticised the current system in Westminster and accused politicians of too much ‘finger pointing’ and ‘arguing’ and not enough ‘doing’.
He is calling for a "more collaborative politics" and pledged to revive Britain's high streets with an overhaul of business rates for small businesses.
"The civil service is full of good people trying to do the right thing, but they are held back by the structure and culture in which they have to work.
"It is too adversarial, and too much time is wasted with departmental silos battling each other and battling the Treasury, rather than getting things done.
"How can the country pull in the same direction when that is the reality at the very top?"
He adds: "The truth is this: the country spends too much time arguing and not enough time doing. I'm not sure this Whitehall culture could ever be justified.
"It wasn't justified when I was a minister, almost 20 years ago, but it certainly can't be justified now."