Burnham says Britain may need a written constitution to be run differently
Andy Burnham previously called for a written constitution in 2024 book 'Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain', which he co-authored with Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram.
Andy Burnham has said Britain may need a written constitution if the country is to adopt what he called a “different approach” to running public services and sharing power.
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The Prime Minister has already announced plans for greater devolution in recent weeks, and he now says the scale of the changes could justify a formal constitutional settlement.
Speaking this week, Mr Burnham said the plans would amount to more than a policy shift, arguing that they could alter the way the country is governed at a fundamental level.
He said the proposals pointed towards “a new constitutional settlement”, linking the idea to his long-running argument for equivalent living standards across the country.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester has previously set out similar thinking in Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain, a 2024 book he co-authored with Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram.
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The Prime Minister said: “In the end, I think it does start to point towards a new constitutional settlement, particularly with what Steve and I were writing about with that commitment to equivalent living standards.
“I said in the speech I gave in Manchester a couple of weeks ago about good growth in every postcode. It’s not just a soundbite. I actually mean that.
“We need to have a country where everyone, in the end, can live a comparable life. That should be what we’re working towards.”
Andy Burnham said he thought that approach should be the “cornerstone” of a written constitution which should set out a clear set of principles for how the country is run, including basic standards for essentials and transport links.
He added: “It’s wrong that people are left arguing for things that are just fundamental, and they’re given in other parts of the country, and the lack of a constitution disempowers places in that situation."
Mr Burnham also suggested that the direction of travel was already changing, with more areas expected to become strategic authorities and retain more of their own income tax and business rates.
“What’s coming through is we’re starting to say that everywhere will have the right to be a strategic authority, everywhere will have the right to retain more of their income tax, business rates.
“That does start to take you into the realms of a very different approach to running the country.”
The UK is unusual among comparable democracies in not having a single written constitution, instead relying on a mixture of statute, common law and convention built up over time.