Andy Burnham sets out plans for Government in first Commons outing as PM

Britain needs to be “blunt about what went wrong” over the last four decades, Andy Burnham has said as he addressed the House of Commons for the first time since becoming Prime Minister.

He hit out at the deindustrialisation and privatisation of the 1980s, and the impact of austerity and Brexit on areas of the UK outside of the South East and London.

“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,” the Prime Minister told the Commons.

Public control over services and utilities will be at the centre of the Government’s efforts to create economic growth, the Prime Minister said.

He told MPs: “The Government I lead will be relentless, 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.”

Leading Greater Manchester as its mayor has “given me a clear theory of growth”, Mr Burnham claimed, adding: “I will apply it to all parts of the UK learning from what has been achieved in Greater Manchester.”

The Prime Minister also said he will attend the Cop31 climate summit in Turkey in November, as he pledged to “meet the climate challenge”.

Published: 01/09/2026 by Radio NewsHub