Andy Burnham vows ‘this is a circuit breaker’ in first speech as PM – but we have to wait until later this YEAR for plan

ANDY Burnham has promised to deliver a “circuit breaker for Britain” – but said the blueprint for his 10-year vision will not be unveiled until later this year. The new Prime Minister pledged immediate help with the cost of living, saying families would get “some breathing space” from tomorrow when he unveils his first measures and explains “how we pay for them.” Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham Credit: AFP Andy Burnham broke with tradition and delivered his first speech outside No10 without a lectern Credit: Reuters But the country will have to wait months for the detail behind his 10-year Plan for Britain, which he says will deliver the biggest political and economic shake-up in more than 40 years. The blueprint will set out “a path from where we are now to where I believe we all want Britain to be”, with plans to hand power out of Westminster, build more council homes and put “life’s essentials” under stronger public control. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! Mr Burnham also revealed his first instruction after walking through the famous black door would be to end rough sleeping. In his first speech outside No10, Mr Burnham admitted the public were “fed up with politics“, conceding: “We have not been good enough, and we need to be better. We will be.” The Labour leader promised “a circuit breaker for Britain”, declaring his Government would bring forward “the biggest changes in the last 40 years” through “a new political model and a new economic model.” Standing outside the famous black door after returning from Buckingham Palace, Mr Burnham ditched the traditional Downing Street lectern and instead addressed the nation from behind two microphones. Moments earlier, he had arrived with wife Marie-France van Heel, embracing supporters and shaking hands with well-wishers gathered outside No10. Mr Burnham blamed Britain’s problems on the “wrong turns” of the 1980s, arguing former industrial communities had never recovered after deindustrialisation. Most read in The Sun He vowed to “take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land” and said public procurement would be used to back British industry. The PM also promised education reforms, better mental health support for young people and more council homes. He said: “We will help more young people into work by changing the education system and giving them more support, more mental health support, and we will build more council homes. “That is the fair and sustainable way to bring the welfare bill down, to meet our fiscal rules, and to honour our commitments on defence to our international partners. “We will help people to live well, building a more preventative state, investing in people’s success rather than paying for failure, and that work starts now. He added: “I will put the care of people at the heart of everything I do. “I will give this my all, and I ask you all to pull with me. Let’s build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose, and positivity. “Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again, the moment we bring back hope. “Thank you very much, everybody.” Andy Burnham's first speech as PM in full “I have just come from Buckingham Palace, where I have accepted His Majesty the King’s invitation to form a Government. “In doing so, I am acutely conscious that I am the sixth person in the last 10 years to walk up this street, the seventh prime minister since 2016, making this a moment for reflection and new resolution. “It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge. “Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again, and that is our challenge – to make politics work, to make it work better. “I know people at home are fed up with politics. I hear you and I want to be honest with you – we have not been good enough, and we need to be better. We will be. We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years – a new political model and a new economic model. “In the 1980s, Britain took some wrong turns. Political power was centralised, economic power privatised, large parts of the country deindustrialised, and they still haven’t recovered. “Many feel as though they’re still in decline and they don’t have the ability to turn things around. And that’s why we will change politics to make it more collaborative, more about problem solving than point scoring. “And we will take power out of here, and carry it into every postcode in the land, so that they can do more, and in doing more, build a new economy, where we put life’s essentials back under stronger public control to make them affordable to you again, reindustrialising Britain using public procurement to back British industry. “Later this year, I will bring forward a new plan for Britain, a 10-year plan, laying out a path from where we are now to where I believe we all want Britain to be, wherever we’re coming from, whatever party we support. “But I can do something to give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living, and I will set out some of those measures starting tomorrow, including how we pay for them. “We will help more young people into work by changing the education system and giving them more support, more mental health support, and we will build more council homes. “That is the fair and sustainable way to bring the welfare bill down, to meet our fiscal rules, and to honour our commitments on defence to our international partners. “We will help people to live well, building a more preventative state, investing in people’s success rather than paying for failure, and that work starts now. “I will soon go through that door behind me and issue my first instruction to end rough sleeping in our country. better “It’s about putting the right values and the right standards at the heart of government. I will put the care of people at the heart of everything I do. “I will give this my all, and I ask you all to pull with me. Let’s build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose, and positivity. “Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again, the moment we bring back hope. “Thank you very much, everybody.” Comment now