ANDY Burnham will speak to the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, he has confirmed on Reddit.
The former Manchester mayor, who is tipped to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister, took to the social media platform to answer 23 questions from members of the public on Friday evening.
He has largely refused to speak to the media after a speech on Monday, conducting only one interview, appearing on LBC on Thursday.
In one answer to his "ask me anything" post on Reddit, he confirmed plans to speak with leaders of the Celtic Alliance around devolution.
It comes after Burnham pledged to increase devolution across the UK – including the devolved nations – with plans for a "Number 10 North" based in Manchester to redistribute power.
He faced a wave of criticism after saying that people in Dundee and Bangor "feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster", with First Minister John Swinney saying the comments demonstrated "Andy Burnham's lack of knowledge about Scotland".
One Reddit user asked: "How would you like your relationship with the devolved governments (Scotland, NI and Wales) to work and how will they interact with your plans for devolution?"
Burnham responded: "I would like it to be as collaborative and pragmatic as possible.
"I want the same offer to power up places to be available in all parts of the UK.
"I will speak soon to First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to agree a positive way of working to this end."
Burnham faced backlash for his response, with one user writing: "You didn't really say anything here.
"They are nations, not regions. Offering 'the same' to Manchester as you're offering to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is pretty insulting."
Another user responded: "It also doesn't make much sense. E.g. both the Scottish and Welsh parliaments have the power to change income tax rates and thresholds.
"Does he want the Northern Irish Assembly to have that power too?
"Should the Mayor of Manchester be able to set a rate for the city they oversee?
"The lack of detail here concerns me. All feels a bit wishy-washy."
A third person said: "Don't just give them more power, give councils for [sic] more power too. But we must also ensure councils are ran properly."
Meanwhile, one user simply replied: "Will you answer questions from the media soon?"
Burnham did not respond to any of these follow-up questions.
Elsewhere in the "ask me anything" thread, Burnham ruled out calling a General Election, and responded to a question from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who accused him of taking "softball questions" online.
The SNP have been contacted for comment.
