Burnham Will Be Bolder but Keep the Manifesto, Says His Deputy
Labour’s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, said Andy Burnham would stand by the 2024 manifesto while being “bolder and more ambitious”, using the change of leader to “clear the decks” and focus on the cost of living. Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday programme, she defended scrapping digital ID as “reprioritising” and backed greater public ownership, arguing the economy had been “overly privatised”.
Ms Powell’s message is aimed at reassuring both the markets and Labour’s factions that “change” does not mean tearing up the platform Labour won on. Her public-ownership language — that utilities are “run in the interests of private interest, not for the consumers” — previews Mr Burnham’s water and energy agenda, while the former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg countered on the same programme that water needs “private capital… or taxpayers’ money”. Opposition parties are pressing Mr Burnham to call an election for a mandate. Watch whether Monday’s speech matches the “bolder” billing with concrete measures.