Andy Burnham promises to devolve more power in 'pitch to Scotland'
In his first speech since Sir Keir Starmer announced he was resigning, prospective prime minister Mr Burnham vowed to give more devolution to local areas in Scotland
Andy Burnham has vowed to devolve more powers to Scottish communities in his “pitch to Scotland” ahead of his expected coronation as prime minister.
Mr Burnham, writing for The Scotsman, said he would give “local leaders the power and resources to connect communities, back young people and revive high streets.”
Read more: Andy Burnham - Here is my pitch to Scotland
But it is unclear how this would be put into practice as local government comes under the power of the Scottish Parliament.
It came after Mr Burnham pledged new “powers” for Aberdeen to manage the energy transition as part of a “rewired Britain” that could include extra devolution to communities across Scotland.
First Minister John Swinney responded that “rhetoric alone will not cut it” and said Scotland needs more job creating powers and the ability to control its energy.
Mr Burnham wrote in the Scotsman that he “will make politics work for you, and the place where you live.”
He said: “I know it can be done because we have done it in Greater Manchester. When I started as Mayor in 2017, we set about building a new politics based on the exact opposite of the Westminster approach: place first, not party first; problem-solving, not scoring; long-term, not short-term.
“That is the approach I would bring to Scotland.
“It means starting with the life people are actually living. Not the argument Westminster wants to have. Not a map in Whitehall. Not an economy ordered from the top down. Growth cannot be ordered from the top down. It can only be nurtured from the bottom up.
“In Scotland, that means backing energy, shipbuilding, manufacturing and public services. It means giving local leaders the power and resources to connect communities, back young people and revive high streets. It means seeing the positives in Edinburgh, Inverness, Fife and North Ayrshire, not writing places off or treating them as an afterthought.”
He added that creating an outpost of 10 Downing Street based in Manchester - dubbed “No10 North” - would “be the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK.”
He continued: “Its job will be to make power flow into places like Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Paisley and Easterhouse, not hold it back.”
Mr Burnham added that he will set out a 10-year plan to bring down the cost of utilities and would held “reindustrialise” Scotland.
He said: “In Scotland, the opportunity is renewables. It is hydrogen and carbon capture. It is shipbuilding, food and drink and advanced manufacturing. The task now is to ensure that the jobs, skills, apprenticeships, and wealth that come from that future are rooted in the communities that help create it.”
On Monday morning, in his first speech since Sir Keir Starmer announced he was resigning, Mr Burnham had laid out his plan to change the country by moving power out of Westminster.
The former Greater Manchester Mayor could become prime minister on July 20 if he is the only contender to replace Sir Keir as Labour leader.
As part of his plans “areas undergoing industrial transition” such as Aberdeen would be given additional powers.
Mr Burnham pledged: “Good growth in every British postcode. What a sea change that would be in the way the UK Government thinks about our own country.
“Places no longer forgotten or written off as they have been in the past but supported to make the best of their assets, seeing the positives in all places and there are positives in all places in all postcodes across this United Kingdom. Let's always remember that.
“Powers for our rural economies to address issues specific to them like inadequate transport, powers for areas undergoing industrial transition like Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Aberdeen.”
“No 10 north will be the nerve center of a rewired brim. Britain, it will be the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK. It will co-ordinate all parts of government at national and local level to agree a long-term economic strategy and help all places set new growth ambitions.”
Mr Burnham also vowed to “extend devolution in Scotland” by “taking power deeper down”.
It is not clear how Mr Burnham would give local areas in Scotland more powers because local government is devolved to Holyrood.
He could potentially amend the Scotland Act or introduce another bill to override it, but this would go against his promise to strengthen devolution and would likely upset the SNP-led Scottish Government.
Mr Burnham said: “It will be about offering new opportunities to extend evolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by taking power deeper down.
“The people of Dundee and Bangor feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster.”
Mr Burnham made promises on local government powers, education and council housing - but these are all devolved to Edinburgh.
This means it is unclear how he would go about implementing policy in these areas.
SNP First Minister John Swinney said he “looks forward to further detail on the substance of these proposals” and vowed to “engage with the new Prime Minister in good faith”.
He said: “I have heard Andy Burnham's proposals, but rhetoric alone will not cut it when Scotland so badly needs more job creating powers and the ability to lower energy bills.
“I look forward to further detail on the substance of these proposals, and how they will fundamentally improve people’s lives in Scotland and bring down the cost of living. I will engage with the new Prime Minister in good faith, with Scotland's interests always at the top of my agenda, and look forward to welcoming him here in the coming weeks.
“However, Scotland is a nation and not a region, and there has now been a pro-independence majority in Holyrood for four elections in a row. This mandate has been ignored by successive Prime Ministers for years. If Andy Burnham genuinely believes people should have more control over their future, he can recognise that by confirming Scotland's national right to self-determination.”
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay also said that Mr Burnham “needs to flesh out what new powers he’s actually talking about”.
But he added: “Scots will be instinctively alarmed at the SNP government being handed even more control, given their astonishing record of failure.
“Social security spending is just one area where the SNP demanded more powers only to create a system that is worse value for taxpayers and wide open to abuse.”
Mr Findlay added: “Weak Labour politicians seem incapable of understanding that they’ll never pacify the SNP by constantly extending devolution.
“John Swinney doesn’t want devolution to work because his only interest is his lifelong obsession of taking Scotland out of the United Kingdom.”
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