Andy Burnham is refusing to answer questions at the first press conference designed to ease people’s concerns about his opacity. Who could have foreseen this?
He will give a speech at around 11:30 a.m. in Manchester designed to inform people what his economic views are. The trail goes something like this:
- He will explain his motivation for standing is to “change politics to make it work for us.”
- The central proposal is the biggest transfer of power out of Whitehall in modern times, with decision-making pushed down to regions and local communities. It lays out a vision of “good growth in every postcode”…
- A flagship proposal is the creation of a “No10 North” to drive devolution and coordinate long-term economic renewal across every nation and region of the UK.
- The speech commits to a 10-year mission to raise living standards through reindustrialisation, housing, infrastructure and reform of essential utilities. It argues for a new partnership between government, business, universities and communities, drawing on the Greater Manchester model…
- It sets out a vision for major reform of the education system to ensure true parity between academic and technical routes, offering a path to all young people rather than remaining overly focused on university.
That’s still extremely vague. Lobby hacks are not currently allowed to ask questions – Burnham’s Team claims “time constraints” prevent it. An excuse as insulting as it is anodyne – what’s the point in hacks even carting themselves up there…
