The new Prime Minister only likes devolution when power is devolved to him Nigel Farage Daily Telegraph 29/07/26 Andy Burnham has taken just nine days to betray the principle he came to power championing. Instead of localism, he’s now proposing a giant new central government bureaucracy, which would raise your taxes, expand the state, and even potentially rip apart families. On July 20, standing outside Downing Street, he promised to “take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land.” Four days later, opening “No 10 North”, he spoke again of “putting power in every postcode” so that places could do more for themselves. By July 29, however, he was taking personal ownership of a National Care Service (NCS) integrated with the NHS. Even by Westminster standards, that is quite a turnaround. Advertisement The phrase “National Care Service” predates Burnham’s premiership, but he has chosen to accelerate the Casey Commission, make the issue a test of his leadership, a...
Left-wingers threaten repeat of benefits revolt that undermined Starmer Daily Telegraph 28/07/26 Labour MPs have threatened to rebel if Andy Burnham makes “punitive” cuts to welfare. The Prime Minister is planning to strip young people of their benefits unless they agree to do training or voluntary work under proposals to reduce the £333bn welfare bill. However, backbenchers on the party’s Left have warned Mr Burnham against repeating the “failed politics of welfare cuts” and signalled that they would oppose such a move. Sir Keir Starmer suffered a revolt by more than 120 of his MPs last year when he sought to tighten the rules around disability benefits to make fewer people eligible. Kim Johnson, the MP for Liverpool Riverside, and John McDonnell , Jeremy Corbyn’s former shadow chancellor, have warned Pat McFadden , the Work and Pensions Secretary, and Mr Burnham against the sweeping cuts. Both MPs were among opponents of Sir Keir’s ill-fated attempt to cut the disability ben...