Highlights:
- Burnham to set out 10-year mission to raise living standards
- Plans to hand more powers and budgets to mayors
- Proposal includes a "No 10 North" and youth employment measures
- Devolution expected to sit at the heart of his programme
ANDY BURHAM will outline plans to hand more powers to mayors as part of a 10-year plan to raise living standards when he delivers a policy speech in Manchester later on Monday, his first since launching his bid to become prime minister.
Burnham is expected to announce plans for a "No 10 North" and set out proposals on youth employment as part of what he will describe as a "10-year mission" to "lift Britain back up to where it should be".
His plan would give mayors greater control over social housing, welfare and education, with powers over budgets currently managed by Whitehall, the BBC reported. He is also expected to promise growth "across every nation and region of the UK" and put devolution at the centre of his programme.
If no other Labour MP enters the leadership race, Burnham is expected to become prime minister on 20 July. He has faced calls to outline his plans, name his cabinet and clarify whether he will depart from Labour's 2024 manifesto.
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Burnham is expected to say the government must "give Britain the circuit-breaker it needs", argue that decision-making should be "pushed to regions and local communities", and promise "good growth in every postcode".
He has signalled he will keep Chancellor Rachel Reeves' fiscal rules, although some Labour MPs have urged him to allow more spending. Reeves recently backed his approach to "fiscal devolution".
Burnham is also under pressure to commit to higher defence spending. Former Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said Burnham should increase defence investment to 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035, adding: "It is [to] keep our country safe, acknowledge that you have this extraordinary responsibility - so you're almost like a wartime prime minister at the moment. And that means you need to invest in what really keeps us safe."
Responding to the speech, Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said Burnham's "big idea is to shuffle power between politicians" and added: "Just more devolution, more committees, more process. It's the politics of distraction from a Labour Party that is deliberately avoiding the questions that actually matter."
A Reform UK spokesman said the plans were "a lot of words for no actual concrete changes", adding: "It's clear that Burnham has taken a leaf out of Starmer's book - all talk, no action."
