Burnham to tell Commons wider public ownership is the only path to UK growth
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will address the Commons on Tuesday, arguing that greater public control of essential services is the only way to boost growth. He is expected to outline a 10-year plan to bring utilities back under state control.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham will address the House of Commons from the government frontbench for the first time in 16 years on Tuesday, six weeks after taking office. He is expected to argue that expanding public control over essential services is the only realistic route to growth across the country.
Sources say Burnham will tell MPs that the cost of everyday services is squeezing family budgets and holding the economy back, promising a plan to bring those costs under control. A Downing Street source said the prime minister is optimistic about the country's future and determined to restore hope in politics.
An early test of this commitment will come as Burnham considers legislation to make it easier to place struggling utility companies such as Thames Water into public ownership, including through insolvency proceedings. He is expected to criticise privatised services more broadly, arguing that utilities and transport operators have failed to serve the public interest reliably or affordably. He will point to bus routes already being brought under public control in the West Midlands, and to the Liverpool City Region, which begins taking over bus services next weekend, as evidence of progress.
Burnham has pledged a 10-year programme to bring utilities, including energy and water companies, under public ownership. He also faces a lengthy round of questioning from MPs on policies unveiled over the summer, including a VAT cut on energy bills, £2 bus fares, scrapping digital ID, expanded devolution, and a new national care service — as well as how these will be funded and how he plans to address a £4.7bn shortfall in the defence investment plan.
Separately on Tuesday, the justice secretary will present plans to reduce the number of prisoners eligible for early release. Later this week, Burnham will face his first prime minister's questions against opposition leader Kemi Badenoch, alongside pressure from around 100 Labour MPs to back a commission on electoral reform, an amendment the Liberal Democrats have said they will support.
