Image source, House of CommonsByKate WhannelPolitical reporter- Published1 September 2026, 20:18 BST
Andy Burnham has promised to set out plans for "stronger public control" of essential services as he addressed the House of Commons for the first time since taking power.
The prime minister said "a series of wrong turns" since the 1980s had seen economic power in the UK privatised and pointed to the water industry as "a leaking monument to that approach - a country run in the private rather than public interest".
He reiterated his belief that political power had been centralised and announced he would be making devolution powers available to more areas in England.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Burnham of offering "more government control, more taxes and more politicians".
"His diagnosis is completely wrong, his theory of growth is completely wrong, he thinks that if government spends more money, we will all get richer - that is not how this works," she said.
Badenoch also warned the prime minister that his new job would be "very different" to his previous Greater Manchester mayoral role where he "did not have to make difficult trade-offs".
Burnham became prime minister on 20 July shortly after Parliament closed for the summer recess.
Tuesday marked the first day of the new parliamentary session and provided his first opportunity to address MPs and take questions.
He told the House of Commons that "Britain is not where we would wish it to be", but promised to "build a new sense of optimism around the country".
Following his 10 years away from Parliament, Burnham said he was returning with a "clear diagnosis" of what had gone wrong in the country.
"From the 1980s, this country took a series of wrong turns," he said.
"Political power was centralised, economic power privatised, the country deindustrialised, 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."
In the months before becoming prime minister, Burnham stopped short of calling for full nationalisation but said he wanted to see greater public control of water and energy.
On Tuesday, he promised that a plan to achieve this would be produced "later in the year".
Pressed on his plans for the water sector by Conservative MP Alison Griffiths, Burnham said it was important to "look at all possible solutions".
"It's a very regrettable situation that the privatisation of water has left us in a position where we're going to find it very difficult to reverse," he added.
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Burnham said his time as Greater Manchester mayor had given him "a clear theory of growth", namely that devolving powers to regions outside London would boost their economy.
He argued the approach had worked in Manchester and now he wanted "every single place across our regions and nations to be able to do the same, creating the conditions for good growth in every postcode".
Some MPs have raised concern that areas without mayors - and the new powers that have come with them - would suffer, leading to a two-tier system.
Efforts to secure a devolution deal in Cornwall have been stymied by the county's reluctance to form a group with Devon but also to having a mayor.
Burnham appeared to have accepted the county's concerns, telling the House of Commons his government would work with Cornwall Council and its six MPs on a devolution deal "with or without an elected mayor".
He added that he would be extending "the same offer to all parts of England without devolved power".
He also said he was interested in exploring "a local model of devolution" in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Shortly before Burnham's speech to Parliament, Sir Keir Starmer said in a surprise announcement that he would be stepping down as an MP, less than two months after he quit as prime minister.
Burnham began his speech by paying tribute to his predecessor telling the House of Commons that Sir Keir had "given this country a lifetime of public service" and created a "platform to change this country for the better".
In his wide-ranging statement, which lasted three-and-half-hours, Burnham gave an indication of his approach on several other issues including welfare.
He suggested that providing more council homes and thereby bringing down rent for more people would be the "Labour way" of reducing the benefits bill.
The prime minister also committed to introducing legislation that would allow homeowners to move more easily from the leasehold system to a commonhold form of ownership.
Asked by Badenoch about defence spending, Burnham said he had specifically chosen John Healey to be his chancellor because of his "commitment to defence".
Healey resigned as defence secretary earlier this year, accusing then-prime minister Sir Keir of failing to commit the resources needed to keep the country safe.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey used his question to argue that too much power in the UK was in "the wrong hands" and called for "fundamental change" of the political system.
Burnham said he would look at the voting system but would not introduce any changes before the next general election.
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