{"id":757354,"date":"2026-09-02T04:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T04:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/757354\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T04:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T04:08:11","slug":"burnham-blames-brexit-and-thatcher-for-wrong-turns-in-first-commons-speech-as-pm-andy-burnham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/757354\/","title":{"rendered":"Burnham blames Brexit and Thatcher for \u2018wrong turns\u2019 in first Commons speech as PM | Andy Burnham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Burnham has blamed Brexit and Margaret Thatcher<\/a> for a decade of low growth in the UK, arguing that Britain needs to be brutally honest about having taken \u201ca series of wrong turns\u201d in the last 40 years.<\/p>\n

In his first Commons appearance since he took over as prime minister about six weeks ago, Burnham told MPs he wanted to build a new sense of optimism so \u201cwe can make this next decade better than the last\u201d.<\/p>\n

The British people wanted \u201cmuch more substantial change\u201d on the big issues facing the country, he said. \u201cThat is what I will bring. Britain is not where any of us would wish it to be. Things are not working as they should.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UK economy has taken a 6% hit from the effects of Brexit<\/a>, according to economists\u2019 analysis of internal Bank of England data on thousands of British companies since the referendum a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Shortly before Burnham\u2019s Commons address, Keir Starmer, his predecessor, announced he would stand down as an MP<\/a>, saying he wanted to focus on international affairs, triggering a tricky first byelection test for Burnham in a seat where the Greens fancy their chances.<\/p>\n

The cabinet was told on Tuesday that the government will have three key priorities: cutting costs of essentials like childcare and mortgages; the regeneration of communities; and greater public control of water, housing and energy.<\/p>\n

Burnham\u2019s deputy, Louise Haigh, will lead task forces on each of those issues, the Guardian understands. He told his ministers they must be \u201crelentless\u201d in fulfilling his priorities.<\/p>\n

His plans are set against a tough economic backdrop<\/a>. The chancellor\u2019s headroom against Labour\u2019s fiscal rules could be halved at his first budget if the current global bond sell-off persists, and economists warn mortgage rates could go up this autumn.<\/p>\n

In his Commons statement, the prime minister also:<\/p>\n

Hinted that he would commit to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, saying he had appointed John Healey as his chancellor \u201cprecisely because\u201d of his position on military spending<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Signalled he is open to renationalising the water industry \u2013 saying he is looking at \u201call possible solutions\u201d, as the sector is a \u201cleaking monument\u201d to the failures of privatisation.<\/p>\n

Opened the door to looking again at electoral reform in Labour\u2019s next manifesto. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Announced he would attend the Cop31 climate summit in Turkey and continue pursuing green energy \u2013 but that he would be \u201cpragmatic\u201d on supply, amid expectations he will approve the Jackdaw gasfield. \u201cThe mistake is saying it\u2019s got to be one or the other for political purposes. The truth is, it\u2019s going to have to be both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flanked by Healey and Haigh, Burnham suggested to MPs the Brexit<\/a> vote had been a response to \u201ca series of wrong turns\u201d made by Britain in the 1980s onwards, that were then compounded by leaving the EU.<\/p>\n

The prime minister, whose Makerfield constituency voted for Brexit, has previously argued it would be a mistake to rerun the referendum<\/a> \u2013 but has said that he wants the UK to rejoin in his lifetime. He suggested the next UK-EU reset summit could take place in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical 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,\u201d he said during a three-hour stint in the Commons.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then Brexit compounded the damage, ushering in a decade of low growth and stalled regeneration. Change begins with honesty \u2026 Unless we are blunt about what went wrong, we won\u2019t turn things around.<\/p>\n

\u201cFar 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe government I lead will be relentless in giving people and places what they were promised 10 years ago: ownership and control, and from that control over their destiny comes change and growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kemi Badenoch accused Burnham of wanting to take the UK \u2018back to the 1970s\u2019. Photograph: House of Commons<\/p>\n

The Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, accused the prime minister of \u201cliving in the past\u201d over his attacks on Thatcher \u2013 who was in power from 1979 to 1990 \u2013 and four decades of neoliberalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe year is 2026 but the prime minister said everything has gone wrong since the 1980s, still complaining about Margaret Thatcher. He is talking about a woman who became prime minister before I was born. He is living in the past and he wants to take us back to the 1970s.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the statement, Burnham paid tribute to Starmer, saying he had created a platform for Britain to be fixed, \u201cand we will use it well\u201d. Just hours earlier, his predecessor announced he would be standing down as MP for Holborn and St Pancras, despite saying in July he planned to stay on until the next election.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a huge honour and privilege to represent the best constituency in the country,\u201d he said. \u201cI will now focus on other things and that will be international affairs, including defence, security, trade and technology in a fast-changing world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s seat, long seen as a safe Labour<\/a> hold, is likely to be targeted by the Greens, potentially for party leader Zack Polanski, who is a London Assembly member. \u201cZack has always made it clear he would like to be a London MP. London has been his home for over 20 years,\u201d a Green spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Just as the Makerfield byelection<\/a> was seen as a proof of concept for whether Burnham could beat Reform, so the north London seat will test his progressive credentials. Labour will choose its candidate to replace Starmer next Wednesday under an accelerated selection timetable.<\/p>\n

Burnham\u2019s first taskforce will be charged with finding bold solutions to tackling \u201ceveryday rip-offs\u201d. The cost of living taskforce will look at parking charges, subscription traps and cowboy builders, as well as long-term fixed pressures like mortgages, food costs and childcare.<\/p>\n

The second will assess the affordability and practicalities of the state taking over failing essential services. Burnham believes that greater state control of essential services is the surest way to economic growth, avoiding the potential for ineffective profiteering by privatised services.<\/p>\n

Government sources said that Haigh, the first secretary of state, wanted to look beyond sectors such as transport and explore serious opportunities for greater state control in areas like energy and housing \u2013 if it would bring down ordinary people\u2019s costs.<\/p>\n

The third taskforce will explore more radical ideas to revive crumbling high streets and impoverished districts, such as potential legislative options on houses in multiple occupation, as well as devolving powers to mayors and councils to help them regenerate local high streets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham has blamed Brexit and Margaret Thatcher for a decade of low growth in the UK, arguing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":757355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-757354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/757355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}