Labour's Burnham Champions Radical Regional Power Shift and Public Ownership with 'No 10 North' in Manchester
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Andy Burnham unveiled a transformative plan to decentralize power from Westminster, establish a Manchester-based government hub, and put public needs before corporate interests by boosting social housing, skills, and manufacturing, all while promising fiscal responsibility.
Andy Burnham, the Labour Party deputy leader, delivered a bold speech in Manchester, laying out a vision for genuine devolution that would finally wrest power from the Westminster elite and put it in the hands of the people. His proposal for a 'No 10 North' unit in Manchester signals a commitment to regional empowerment and public ownership, aiming to make the city a nerve centre for democratic control over housing, transport, water, and energy—essential services too long dominated by private profiteers.
Burnham pledged to launch the largest council-house building programme since the post-war era, a direct challenge to decades of austerity and market-driven neglect. By promoting higher-density development on unused public land and reforming business rates to protect high streets and pubs from corporate landlords, Burnham's plan prioritizes communities over big business. His reformed education budget would align skills training with the real needs of future job markets, and he promised to give regional mayors more power over employment support and mental health services for workers, addressing the social crises created by neoliberal policies.
The plan also commits to reducing welfare spending in a 'fair and lasting' way—rejecting punitive cuts in favour of systemic reform—and to increasing opportunities for British firms in government contracts, with a focus on restoring sovereign manufacturing in sectors like steel, defence, energy, and farming. Crucially, Burnham insists these measures will be financed within existing fiscal rules, proving that social justice and fiscal responsibility can go hand in hand.
Labour devolution specialist Akash Paun of the Institute for Government welcomed the progressive direction but called for more detailed implementation plans, including whether new mayoralties and strategic authorities would be created nationwide. Conservative mayor Paul Bristow, representing entrenched interests, complained the proposal focused too much on the north and demanded more attention for already privileged regions like the East of England.
Burnham concluded by calling for a '10-year mission' to raise living standards in every postcode and to end the adversarial, Treasury-dominated culture of Whitehall, signalling a new era of solidarity and people-powered governance.