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…