ANDY Burnham “wants to change” devolution powers, a Labour minister has claimed days after the Labour leader-in-waiting rolled back on a policy of “tearing up” the funding mechanism for Holyrood.
Burnham, who could be in Downing Street in a matter of weeks, abandoned his plans to “tear up” the Barnett Formula after The National revealed the Labour MP had written that he felt the funding mechanism for Holyrood had afforded Scotland “protection” from austerity.
However, the Housing Secretary Steve Reed on Sunday told Sky News that Burnham does plan on changing “some things,” including devolution.
Asked whether Burnham would scrap the triple lock, Reed said: “Well, there are conversations going on in Parliament all the time, but we’re elected on a manifesto and Andy is committed to that manifesto.
“Now he’ll want to change some things, and one of the areas he’s talked about, and I think very excitingly, is devolution, handing more power directly to communities.
“Now, that is something that Andy and I have both been talking about for well over 10 years now. He did an exceptional job as the mayor of Manchester. He’s one of Labour’s big success stories.
“It’s one of the reasons he did so well in the Makerfield by-election because people have seen the changes that he’s made.”
Reed said there would be “changes of emphasis” but suggested the “fundamentals” would remain, including the fiscal rules.
Two years ago, Burnham wrote in his book Head North that “the time has come to tear up the Green Book [official UK Government spending guidance] and the Barnett Formula and replace them with a modern funding formula which works for the English regions and the home nations”.
In the book, co-authored with Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotherham, Burnham added: “As we've explained, the Green Book drags funding towards London and the South East. This is then badged as ‘English’ funding. The Barnett Formula then adds on consequential funding to the home nations as a result of this.
“While it aims to protect the devolved nations in terms of funding, there is no corresponding funding protection for the English regions. This is why the English regions continually miss out.”
The Barnett Formula calculates “consequentials” which flow from UK Government spending in devolved areas, which are then passed onto the national parliaments to spend as the devolved administrations see fit.
The Makerfield MP has since walked back the proposal, telling the BBC it was no longer part of the plan.
Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay said that Burnham has performed “U-turn after U-turn” before he has even taken up the post of prime minister, adding that it suggests he has “no principles”.
She added: “Instead of coming with fresh ideas and policies that will actually lift people out of poverty like properly taxing wealth to make life better for everyone across our nations, it seems that Keir Starmer will be replaced with someone who is ready to maintain the status quo and prolong the austerity that Labour has inherited from the Tories and somehow worsened in a matter of years.”
