Labour unrest over Burnham's '10-year plan' as Red Wall MPs fear it will just be 'political slogans'... after PM hinted at delay

Published: 04:51 EST, 11 November 2026 | Updated: 05:02 EST, 11 November 2026 Signs of Labour unrest over Andy Burnham's 10-year plan are surfacing today with warnings it must be more than 'political slogans'.A group of mainly Red Wall MPs have voiced alarm that the PM's much-hyped strategy is not shaping up to be radical enough.They are pushing for action to bail out heavy industries being hammered by soaring energy costs. A delegation from the Reindustrialisation Research Group (RRG) is said to be meeting Cabinet Office minister Sally Jameson to pass on their concerns later. The misgivings emerged after Mr Burnham admitted the plan might not appear this year.But the premier has dismissed briefings that the blueprint could be less ambitious than billed, and merely launch a series of consultations.Andy MacNae, the head of the RRG, told the Guardian: 'There are a lot of gaps in the government's reindustrialisation strategy which are not yet filled. The misgivings emerged after Mr Burnham admitted the much-hyped plan might not appear this year'The 10-year plan is a chance to fill them, but in the briefings we have been given that is not what we are seeing.'We have had really good engagement from ministers, but we need to see something more constructive and we are just not seeing that at the moment. 'The risk is we don't see reindustrialisation at all, and continue to see deindustrialisation.'Fellow member Jonathan Hinder, the MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, said: 'Making reindustrialisation cannot just be about political slogans. 'We are going in the wrong direction and we need pretty drastic action, but we are not yet seeing that from this government.'The ten-year plan has been used to explain why the Budget at the end of last month kicked a number of key issues down the road. It could flesh out Mr Burnham's drive to devolve more power to local leaders across the UK, and to reform the social care system. But it will not lay a path for defence budgets hitting 3 per cent of GDP by 2030 - which has been left to a spending review in the second half of the year. Mr Burnham's de facto deputy Louise Haigh refused to say last week whether the ten-year plan will include action on benefits.Speaking to the Economist after the Commonwealth summit in Antigua last week, Mr Burnham said: 'People are underestimating the significance of this, there's been briefing around this week, and I just wanted to just drop this in with you, inaccurate briefing.'This idea that it's going to be a one-year… no, I will lay out my very clear vision for Britain.'And it will be substantial, and it will also be… compelling because I am weaving the different threads together, and I will do that.'He added on the timing: 'We may go into the New Year, to be honest, there is that — December or January, I think we will need to leave that open, I don't think we've got a firm landing zone for it yet.'