Burnham claims he has ‘clear diagnosis of what has gone wrong’ with UK
Burnham says, coming back to the Commons after 10 years, he has “a clear diagnosis of what has gone wrong”.
He goes on:
double quotation markAnd let me lay it out clearly.
From the 1980s, this country took a series of wrong turns. Political power was centralised, economic power privatised, the country de-industrialised austerity followed, hollowing out councils and depriving them of the agency to act to reverse any of this.
And then Brexit compounded the damage, ushering in a decade of low growth and stalled regeneration.
Change begins with honesty. I’m not hearing much of it this afternoon. Unless we are blunt about what went wrong, we won’t turn things around.
Far from taking back control, the combination of these policies took control out of the hands of communities up and down Britain.
For 40 years, too many places have been drifting. Too many British high streets tell the story of this decline. People yearn to see them restored to what they once were.
Key events
7m ago
Burnham says his Northern Ireland border poll comment ‘misunderstood’, and Good Friday agreement could allow one
16m ago
Burnham suggests Shropshire could also get devolution benefits without being part of combined authority
24m ago
Burnham urges Scottish government to back bringing Glasgow’s bus service back under public control
32m ago
Burnham says he has ‘open mind’ about beefing up elections bill with caps on political donations
41m ago
Burnham says he ‘100%’ backs getting social media companies to remove non-consensual explict content more quickly
51m ago
Burnham says E1 settlement on West Bank could kill off prospects for two-state solution for Isreal and Palestine
1h ago
Burnham tells Reform UK’s Richard Tice he’s wrong to think it’s either/or with fossil fuels and renewables
1h ago
Lib Dems welcome Burnham saying Cornwall won’t need to merge with Devon to get benefits of devolution deal
1h ago
Burnham says government needs mandate for electoral reform, but it could happen in next parliament
2h ago
Burnham says he will focus on farming because he sees it as part of UK’s ‘sovereign production and manufacturing capacity’
2h ago
Burnham says too many young people on benefits – but blames education system for letting them down
2h ago
Burnham confirms he wants political reform, including looking at voting system
2h ago
Burnham says he cut taxes twice in his first week, as he rejects Badenoch’s attack on his economic policies
2h ago
Badenoch says Burnham’s theory of growth ‘completely wrong’
2h ago
Burnham says he will ensure areas in England without mayors can also benefit from devolution deals
2h ago
Burnham claims he has ‘clear diagnosis of what has gone wrong’ with UK
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Burnham to say he wants to unlock ‘positivity’ in first statement to MPs since becoming PM
In response to a question from Labour’s Marsha De Cordova about Europe, Burnham said the next UK-EU summit might take place “the month after next” (ie, in November), but this was still being finalised.
In response to a question from Ellie Chowns, the parliamentary leader of the Green party, Burnham said that he was committed to a carbon neutral future and he was willing to work with the Greens on this.
ShareBurnham says his Northern Ireland border poll comment ‘misunderstood’, and Good Friday agreement could allow one
Chris Law (SNP) criticised Burnham for ruling out a Northern Ireland border poll on his recent visit to Belfast.
Burnham said Law had “misunderstood” what Burnham was saying. He said he was ruling out a border poll now. He said he was “very aware of every word in the Good Friday agreement”, which says there should be a border poll if there is clear majority support for one, and he said he would “stick to it 100%”.
He also said he cared about Northern Ireland and visited it often.
ShareBurnham suggests Shropshire could also get devolution benefits without being part of combined authority
Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem MP for North Shropshire, said there are no immediate plans for Shropshire to have a combined authority or mayoral authority. People there were worried this would mean they would lose out under Burnham’s devolution plans, she said.
Burnham said he thought devolution deals would only work with unitary local government. He went on:
double quotation markI don’t think it will work with a two-tier system, but that’s why I said to colleagues in Cornwall, I’m quite happy to see if a deal can be done for a single unitary authority. [See 5.02pm.]
That is what I understand members of parliament for Cornwall want working with the leader of Cornwall council. If that is the settled view, I’m not going to try and impose something else. Let’s work with that.
And the same could be true in Shropshire, but it needs to be effective and functional and be able to stand on its own two feet.
Updated at 13.04 EDT
Burnham urges Scottish government to back bringing Glasgow’s bus service back under public control
Zubir Ahmed (Lab) asked Burnham if he could do anything to improve the bus service in Glasgow.
Burnham said he had been surprised to learn how expensive bus fares were in Glasgow. He said he thought there were moves to put the buses under public control in the city, but he had been told the Scottish government was not in favour. He said he hoped they would adopt that approach.
He went on:
double quotation markA great city like Glasgow should have public transport under its own control. And what I see in Scotland, there is something of the same problem as England, where the capital city has a public transport system that is way beyond what anywhere else has.
ShareBurnham says he has ‘open mind’ about beefing up elections bill with caps on political donations
Labour’s Stella Creasy said Reform UK has raised £9m in donations this year, with £8m coming from just three UK-based donors. She went on:
double quotation markChequebooks are already circling the next general election, and if we wish to defend our democracy and make sure that all voices can be heard equally, we need to make sure it’s not money that talks.
She urged Burnham to accept amendments to the representation of the people bill that would put caps on how much individuals and companies can donate to political parties.
Burnham said that bill as drafted (which only caps the amount that can be given by donors living abroad) was just a start. He went on:
double quotation markI don’t think anyone on the front bench is saying it’s the end of this matter. We do need to go further.
I would encourage [Creasy] to engage with the Defending Democracy taskforce.
And certainly I have an open mind about what those further measures might be.
ShareBurnham says he ‘100%’ backs getting social media companies to remove non-consensual explict content more quickly
Wera Hobhouse (Lib Dem) asked about women secretly being filmed on nights out. She said:
double quotation markIn many towns and cities across the country, women are secretly filmed on a night out and the videos are posted online with vile, degrading, misogynistic contents and comments.
And the women only find out once these videos have been shared 100,000 times and more, and they do not know what to do and we need to change something.
Will the prime minister support the campaign to end this vile practice, including looking at reform to make misogyny a hate crime?
Burnham said, as the father of two daughters, this issue was very much at the forefront of his mind. He said he had recently met Georgia Harrison, who was doing “amazing” campaigning in this area.
He said Harrison wanted social media companies to remove non-consensual explicit content immediately, not just within 48 hours, which is the current deadline. A 48-hour deadline was “totally unsatisfactory”, Burnham said. He said he would support changing that “100%”.
ShareBurnham says E1 settlement on West Bank could kill off prospects for two-state solution for Isreal and Palestine
Debbie Abrahams (Lab) asked Burnham would he would do to stop the building of illegal settlements on the West Bank.
Burnham said the plans for the E1 settlement were particularly worrying. They would “lead to decisions being made before the Israeli election which, as I understand it, could imperil, if not end, the two-state solution”.
He went on:
double quotation markSo these matters are urgent. They do need to be confronted. And I believe we will be updating the house soon on those matters. [See 3.04pm.]
ShareBurnham tells Reform UK’s Richard Tice he’s wrong to think it’s either/or with fossil fuels and renewables
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, asked when the government would approve the applications for the Jackdaw and Rosebank gas and oil fields in the North Sea. He repeated his claim about the rush to net zero being “stupid”.
Burnham said Tice needed a better grasp of the facts. He explained:
double quotation markIn Greater Manchester it costs £30 to charge a bus with electric charge, £200 plus to fill a tank of diesel. He really does need to look into the facts a little bit more before he makes statements like that in this house.
Solar panels on people’s homes can bring down the cost of their energy and it.
And, yes, we need to be pragmatic. We will still need to rely on oil and gas for some years to come.
The mistake [Tice] is making is saying it’s got to be one or the other for political purposes. The truth is, it’s going to have to be both.
Dave Doogan, the SNP leader at Westminster, said he agreed with many of Burnham’s criticisms of the way Westminster works, “although my prognosis would be terminal rather than treatable”. He asked when Labour would fulfil its promise to cut energy bills by £300.
(In fact, at the last election Labour said its policies would make energy bills £300 lower than they otherwise would be. But this nuance has been forgotten.)
Burnham said he agreed with SNP criticisms of Westminster more after he left the Commons than when he was here in the past. But he said, because he thought the state needed to be rewired, it was all the more important to keep the UK together.
On energy bills, he said:
double quotation markWhen it comes to energy bills. I have acted already to bring in that cut on VAT on electricity bills. I recognise it’s just a start, but I hope he sees that as a sign of intent.
Stuart Andrew, the Conservative MP for Daventry, asked Burnham to look at solar energy policy. He said there was an application for a huge solar farm on agricultural land in his constituency. But big warehouses do not need to have solar panels on their roofs, he said.
Burnham said that was a good point. He would look into it, he said.
And he said he enjoyed deal with Andrew in the cross-party talks on social care reform.
ShareLib Dems welcome Burnham saying Cornwall won’t need to merge with Devon to get benefits of devolution deal
Steven Morris
Steven Morris is a Guardian reporter covering the west of England.
There has been cautious optimism from Cornish politicians over Andy Burnham’s announcement that No 10 North will work on a devolution deal for Cornwall. (See 4.05pm.)
Ben Maguire, the Lib Dem MP for North Cornwall, said:
double quotation markToday’s comments from the PM certainly send promising signals, and seem to be a step in the right direction after months of Cornwall being overlooked on the devolution front.
For the first time, we’re hearing recognition from the very top of government that Cornwall won’t be forced to have a mayor or merged with another authority simply to access the powers and funding we’ve been promised for years.
Leigh Frost, the Lib Dem leader of Cornwall Council, said:
double quotation markWhen I met the prime minister here in Cornwall, I made sure he heard our position loud and clear, including our red lines on a forced mayor or a merger with Devon.
It’s encouraging that he’s listened. There’s a lot of detail still to work through, but this feels like a genuine opportunity to get the right deal for Cornwall and I’m glad he has used his first speech in the Commons to set this out.
ShareBurnham says government needs mandate for electoral reform, but it could happen in next parliament
Lisa Smart (Lib Dem) said her party would strongly back Burnham if he brought in changes to the voting system ahead of the next election.
Burnham said, standing as election for mayor of Greater Manchester under the supplementary vote system (where second preferences are taken into account), he was struck by how that changed they behaviour of candidates. They had to look for agreement with opponents, he said.
He went on:
double quotation markWhere I will disagree with [Smart] is in saying that we do that ahead of any general election, because I do believe there needs to be a mandate to make that change.
There are different views in this house, but I believe we will need to get a consensus at the next election.
And if there is that consensus, then a change can be made in the next parliament.
Esther McVey (Con) asked Burnham why Avanti West Coast train staff got a generous pay rise. Was that because Burnham did not want the embarrasment of trains to Manchester running late.
Burnham said, as a north-west MP, McVey should know the “misery” people suffer travelling on the West Coast line. He said this pay deal would deliver a better service.
Andy McDonald (Lab) asked Burnham if he agreed the government needed to end outsourcing.
Burnham said the Labour manifesto committed the government to the largest round of insourcing for a generation. He cited employment support as an example of where this was needed. If this was insourced, and put in the hands of mayors, it would be much more effective, he said.
ShareBurnham says he will focus on farming because he sees it as part of UK’s ‘sovereign production and manufacturing capacity’
In response to a question from Simon Hoare (Con) about farming, Burnham said:
double quotation markI’m probably not renowned for spending much time on farms. I’m more likely to found in the northern quarter of Manchester.
But I was on a farm in Cornwall in the summer precisely to engage and understand the issues that they are facing, and I heard very clearly the issues that have been presented by this very difficult summer for farmers up and down the country.
And I will focus on farming because, for me, farming and food production is part of the sovereign production and manufacturing capacity of this country that will need to strengthen in years to come.
In response to a question from Labour’s Barry Gardiner about leasehold, Burnham said he was committed to pushing ahead with the commonhold and leashold reform bill.
ShareBurnham says too many young people on benefits – but blames education system for letting them down
Edward Leigh (Con), the father of the Commons (longest-serving member), asked Burnham to work with the opposition on tackling the “bloated welfare bill”.
Burnham replied:
double quotation markI can’t defend a position where too many people in their 20s are on benefits.
But what I do say is, why is that the case?
And I do not believe we have an education system that is setting all young people up for success. I think there is more we can do to give young people work-related opportunity. At 16, I think there is more support we can provide them with mental health. Those are the approaches I think we can take.
Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee, asks if the government will back her amendment to the representation of the people bill banning all donations from people living abroad. Currently it caps them at £100,000.
Burnham does not give that commitment. But he says he is glad parliament is voting on these issues, and he says the Defending Democracy taskforce is considering these matters.
Updated at 12.13 EDT