Burnham’s long-promised ‘Ten-Year Plan’ will now consist of a speech before Christmas along with a document that, according to the New Statesman’s Ailbhe Rae, will be “slimmer than expected”. This hallowed plan was supposed to be Burnham’s blockbuster blueprint for power. The thing that actually brought the substance after 100 days of TikToks and bar snacks…
Now, the plan will really mark the start of a six to nine month consultation – yet another consultation – rather than setting out what this government will do, what it’s for, and how it will pay for anything. That plodding process will then feed into next year’s spending review, which will itself take months to arrive. And don’t forget, this government’s ‘consultations‘ already leave a lot to be desired…
Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked John Healey: “Just finally, I mean Andy Burnham has been very clear he wants Britain back in the European Union in his lifetime. Do you?”
The Chancellor replied: “I’m older than Andy Burnham. I don’t expect to see that.”