Burnham declares war on the privatised state in Commons debut

‘Wrong turns’ since the 1980s

Andy Burnham used his first appearance before MPs as prime minister to declare that Britain has taken a series of "wrong turns" since the 1980s — and promised a dramatic shift towards greater public control of essential services.

In a wide-ranging three-and-a-half-hour Commons appearance, Burnham attacked the privatisation of economic power, the centralisation of political power and the decline of local government.

His message was unmistakable: Britain needs more government, more regional power and greater public control.

The Conservatives were ready with an equally simple response.

Badenoch: more control, more taxes

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the new prime minister of offering Britain "more government control, more taxes and more politicians."

She said Burnham's diagnosis of Britain's economic problems was wrong and attacked his belief that increased government spending would produce growth.

Badenoch also delivered a warning from someone who has watched Burnham's political career closely.

Being prime minister, she said, would be very different from being mayor of Greater Manchester, where he did not have to make the same difficult national trade-offs.

That battle has now begun.

Water becomes the battlefield

Burnham singled out the water industry as perhaps the clearest example of what he believes went wrong.

He described the sector as "a leaking monument" to a system in which Britain was supposedly being run in the private rather than public interest.

The prime minister stopped short of promising immediate nationalisation, but confirmed that his government will produce plans later this year for "stronger public control" of essential services.

Pressed on water, Burnham said all possible solutions would have to be considered, while acknowledging that reversing privatisation would be extremely difficult.

That could prove to be one of the defining battles of his premiership.

Burnham's Manchester experiment goes national

The other major plank of the speech was devolution.

Burnham believes his decade running Greater Manchester demonstrated that transferring power away from Westminster can produce stronger regional economies.

Now he wants to spread that model across England.

He promised to offer devolution powers to every part of England without them, including areas that do not want an elected mayor.

That is significant.

Cornwall, for example, has resisted creating a mayoral system as part of its proposed devolution arrangements. Burnham said his government would work with Cornwall "with or without an elected mayor".

He also wants to explore new forms of devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Burnham revolution

The philosophy behind the speech is becoming increasingly clear.

Burnham believes political power has been too concentrated in Westminster, economic power has been transferred to private interests and local government has been weakened by years of austerity.

His answer is to push power downwards while bringing some essential services back under greater public control.

It is a distinctly different vision of Britain from the one that emerged from the Thatcher era.

And Burnham appears determined to make that difference one of the central themes of his premiership.

Housing instead of welfare

Burnham also offered a very Labour answer to the welfare bill.

Rather than simply cutting benefits, he argued that Britain should build more council homes and drive down rents.

That, he suggested, would reduce the benefits bill at its source.

He also promised legislation to make it easier for leaseholders to move towards commonhold ownership.

The message is clear: change the structure of the housing market rather than simply keep paying more to cope with its consequences.

Then comes the awkward bit — growth

The great test for Burnham will be whether his theory actually produces the growth he promises.

Badenoch's attack goes directly to the heart of that question.

Can a bigger state, higher public spending and more government intervention actually make Britain richer?

Burnham says his Greater Manchester model proves that devolving power can unlock growth.

His critics say Manchester cannot simply be scaled up to an entire country — and that Westminster now faces vastly harder choices over taxation, defence, debt, welfare and economic growth.

North Sea drilling exposes the contradiction

Burnham was also challenged over future drilling in the North Sea.

Reform UK's Richard Tice demanded new licences for oil and gas, arguing that importing energy while Britain has its own reserves makes no sense.

Green MP Ellie Chowns took precisely the opposite position, warning about the climate consequences.

Burnham promised a "pragmatic approach", arguing that Britain's transition to renewable energy must be achieved as effectively and affordably as possible.

That may be the phrase to watch.

Because governing Britain is considerably more complicated than running Greater Manchester.

The honeymoon is over

Burnham has now had his first big Commons test.

He has laid out the ideological foundations of his government: devolution, public control, more council housing and a rejection of the post-1980s economic settlement.

The Conservatives have already identified the battlefield.

More government.

More taxes.

More politicians.

Burnham says Britain needs a new direction.

Badenoch says his direction is exactly the wrong one.

And after the summer honeymoon, the argument over what kind of country Britain should actually become has officially begun.

SOURCE

No surprise from a communist.

2 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

No surprise from a communist.

So Burnham's a Communist, have you ever considered that you have no idea what you are posting about?

2 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

No surprise from a communist.

It was nice to see him destroy Tice on his stupid net zero comments. And Tice was no intelligent enough to modulate his case, he just went in there with one bit of grandstanding for his loyal fans that he needed to get out regardless. It shows the difference between a political foghorn and an intelligent political statesman.

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/burnham-gives-tice-a-lesson-after-reform-deputy-leader-harps-on-about-net-stupid-zero-409314/

Also no surprise that Farage couldn't be bothered turning up.

20 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

No surprise from a communist.

The usual inane response from a poster desperate to slander anything this man does.

If you take just water as an example, prices have risen over 44% for the average consumer since privatisation in 1989 whilst shareholders in water companies have received GBP85 billion in dividends. In Scotland however, water is in public ownership and on average, the annual water bill in Scotland is £107 cheaper than in England. The VAST majority of the English public (82%) wants water back in public hands. This is NOT communism but a sensible solution to the publics overall dissatisfaction with privatisation of essential utilities that fall well below par in service and costs whilst also lining the pockets of usually foreign owned investors (Thames Water is owned by Canada's OMERS, and sovereign wealth funds including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and China Investment Corporation, EDF Energy is owned by the French government, ScottishPower is owned by Spain's Iberdrola , and British Gas parent company Centrica is publicly traded with institutional global shareholders).

https://weownit.org.uk/public-ownership/water

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/16/uk-public-paid-200bn-to-shareholders-of-key-industries-since-privatisation-study

PM Burnham is onto a winner, there is broad public support for re-nationalization utilities and railways.

Time put an end to privatized profits for socialized costs.