Burnham ally condemns his 'growth in every postcode' soundbite warning the 'weird' idea will waste taxpayers' money

A close ally of Andy Burnham has laid into his 'growth in every postcode' soundbite - warning it will waste taxpayers' money.Lord O'Neill, a former Treasury minister who has advised the PM, said he was 'not a huge fan' of Mr Burnham's often-repeated mantra.He insisted the best thing Mr Burnham could do for growth is bring down mortgage rates by convincing the markets he is determined to control Government spending. The peer, an ex-Goldman Sachs economist who served in David Cameron's administration, recently revealed he had turned down a post under the new premier.He has urged Mr Burnham to 'get real' on issues such as welfare and state pensions, complaining that the PM's attempts to blame Thatcherism for the country's woes were the 'last thing' markets wanted to hear. Speaking to the Centre for Cities think-tank, Lord O'Neill said: 'I'm not a huge fan personally of the growth in every postcode.'As I've actually said to them privately recently, the best way of getting growth in every postcode is to get 10-year UK gilt yields down by 150 basis points, which would be reflected in obviously mortgage rates significantly. Lord O'Neill, a former Treasury minister who has advised the PM, said he was 'not a huge fan' of Mr Burnham's often-repeated mantra'So anybody borrowing money for a house or a mortgage repayment anywhere would benefit.'Adding that the slogan suggests the Government could try to directly intervene in every area, Lord O'Neill said: 'Let's just say good luck with that strategy if that is it because I think it would almost definitely result in some wasted taxpayers' money, and with it create political questions that they might not want to face.'Details on the plans will be set out in a white paper and the October Budget is expected to provide clarity on what the approach will be.But Lord O'Neill, who was involved in developing the Northern Powerhouse project when George Osborne was Chancellor, suggested the pledge lacked credibility with investors.'It's a sort of a weird cousin of Boris's levelling up in a way, and I wish they didn't use it,' he said.Lord O'Neill said despite economic challenges in London, the value of goods and services produced in the capital is the same as the next eight largest metropolitan boroughs put together.He added: 'If you do the simple back of the envelope mathematics, if you want to get the national GDP numbers stronger, purely thinking about it as the addition of a number of regions, you have kind of got to get London at least stopping slowing down, and it's quite ironic, of course, given where Andy's come from.'London's got to be given some kind of priority. Otherwise, and again, it's very simple maths, the likes of Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and the West Midlands are the three that I'd say are the next most population-wise and GVA-wise most important to get really going.'These places and more would have to be growing by 5 per cent for many years in order for it to make a difference, so that is the actual reality if you take a regional approach.'Lord O'Neill insisted the Government's approach to the economy, including establishing No 10 North, must be 'articulated very carefully and very transparently because there are human and social challenges with the economic reality'.He said: 'It is not from a national perspective. It should be because when you start that, it's a valid argument to say, well, what's so special about the North compared with Cornwall?'So you've really got to get pretty honest and brutal, but show it in a constructive way about the economic side.'Lord O'Neill also called for an end to a cycle of politicians 'over-promising and never delivering'.'It is just stupid because it creates your problems for yourself,' he added.Commenting on devolution areas retaining some taxes generated locally, the peer said people need to understand that 'this is probably the deepest thing that (the Prime Minister) and his team really believe in'.But he warned that some areas currently lack the level of progress and capabilities to take on the extra responsibilities.He added: 'I think people should think about this as involving a lot of constitutional change.'I think about this as the beginning of what could be the scale of things being devolved that people in this country who are alive today would never have conceived of being possible.'In saying that, I don't mean this is going to happen tomorrow because of the whole issue, to put it mildly, about capability and delivery.'Referring to countries with a range of long-established regional powers, He said: 'It's a bit alien to us, but for other big, historically successful and important places, it's kind of normal, and I think we need to get into the mindset. This is what's probably coming in this country.'I would be a bit worried about if we saw it in this Budget that they actually give those specific powers to people in many regions now because I think you want to do it to places that actually know what they're going to do with it, and have some clear, accountable plans.He added: 'You can't just give them a load of taxpayers' money and say you just go ahead and do what you want, because a lot of them will turn around and probably ask the Treasury. The peer, an ex-Goldman Sachs economists who served in David Cameron's administration, recently revealed he had turned down a post under the new premier (pictured in New York today)'This is probably the single most immediate challenge they've got, because the human nature and the politics of it, obviously, with a lot of local areas putting their hand up saying, ''What about me, me, me?'' And they've got to be tough about it.'Lord O'Neill said some competitiveness should be introduced 'rather than just treating everywhere the same as some kind of weird communist state'.He also called for an 'Office of Budget Responsibility for infrastructure' to provide evidence backing public investment.'What this country desperately needs, irrelevant of whichever government of the day, is somebody that shows borrowing money to invest in things that are going to help the long-term supply side of the UK is the way to really, amongst many other forces, to get longer-term economic growth,' he said.