World News
PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham lays out plan to fix ‘broken’ British politics
Andy Burnham, the British MP tipped to replace outgoing prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, promised “radical change” to the nation’s “broken” political system as he laid out some of his policy vision on Monday.
The former minister, who returned to national politics via a by-election earlier this month, told a room of supporters in Manchester he would hand more power to local councils, raise living standards and ramp up construction of affordable housing. He also said he would create a “Number 10 North”, so that policy direction was not purely set from the PM’s office at 10 Downing Street in central London.
Mr Burnham is currently the only declared candidate to take over from Sir Keir and, if no challengers emerge, he could become prime minister by the middle of July. The PM-in-waiting also pledged to help young people find jobs and improve access to state-subsidised housing, where there can be long-waiting lists in many parts of the country.