Labour under Burnham will be faster and bolder, says minister

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says Labour under an Andy Burnham government will be "faster and bolder".

She was speaking after 322 Labour MPs nominated Burnham as their next leader, leaving him one short of it being mathematically impossible for anyone else to challenge him.

However, Housing Secretary Steve Reed and Home Office Minister Mike Tapp have now confirmed they will be backing Burnham on Monday, so he is expected to reach the threshold to be announced as the new Labour leader next week.

Nandy, whose Wigan constituency is next to Burnham's Makerfield seat, told BBC Radio 4 she did not believe a leadership contest was necessary and backed his plans to set up an No 10 north in Manchester.

But opposition parties have called on Burnham to set out how he would cut the welfare bill, plug gaps in defence funding, tackle immigration, take devolution beyond cities, and bring in rent controls.

The former Greater Manchester mayor, who returned to Parliament in a by-election less than a month ago, is expected to be made prime minister by the King on 20 July.

Nandy told Today: "I think there will be two things that will be different under Andy Burnham.

"The first is that it will be faster and bolder, and he's willing to think very differently about how we deliver that change.

"Number 10 in the North has attracted a lot of interest but that really is about shifting the centre of gravity in the country so that all parts of the country are seen and heard and are able to contribute.

"The second thing that will be different is we will wear our hearts on our sleeves more."

Nandy stood to be Labour leader in 2020, losing out to Sir Keir Starmer.

She was thought to have ambitions to stand again before throwing her weight behind the former mayor, who is a longstanding friend and ally.

She said she had not yet been told she would be continuing as culture secretary under Burnham or offered another job and neither had anybody else in Sir Keir's cabinet.

"He [Burnham] has not offered any jobs to anybody and I firmly believe that's the right thing to do."

In her Today interview, she also defended Labour's record in office over the past two years, including cutting NHS waiting times and opening up opportunities for young people.

She said this had been achieved by Sir Keir under very difficult circumstances - but admitted that the government's work had not resonated with the public.

This, she argued, was why Burnham was now taking over, adding that a leadership contest was not necessary because Labour was putting the country first.

"I feel very much in my constituency in Wigan, and we heard it in the neighbouring constituency of Makerfield in the recent by-election, people have put up with a lot for a long time.

"They need things to change, they voted for that change two years ago, they've sent us a clear message that they want that change to be bolder, they want it to be faster."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has attacked Sir Keir Starmer for leaving what she called a £5bn gap in defence spending for his successor.

And in an opinion column in the Daily Telegraph, she claimed Burnham would not call a snap election because he would lose to her party, and said the Conservatives were now preparing for government in 2029.

"The next Conservative government will inherit an economic mess from Burnham or whoever has replaced him," she wrote.

"Weak borders, a welfare system out of control, public services that too often fail the public, and a dangerous world in which Britain must re-arm.

"We are recruiting serious people who understand common sense, can get stuff done and can unite the country."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Burnham's plan for a No 10 North was overly-focused on big cities, and called on him to keep coastal and countryside towns in mind as well.

The Lib Dem leader has dubbed Burnham "Avanti Andy" after the rail franchise that serves Manchester.

On a visit to Torbay in Devon, he said: "London and Manchester are brilliant cities and engines of innovation for our country, but Avanti Andy is heading for signal failure if he doesn't rapidly realise there is a Britain that lies beyond the tracks connecting Euston and Manchester Piccadilly."

He added: "Andy Burnham has a very short window to turn this government around, end the chaos and build trust with communities the whole length and breadth of the UK."

And Green Party leader Zack Polanksi urged Burnham to bring in new rent controls, as research showed a rent freeze in 2022 could have saved the average renting household £2,400 a year.

Polanski was speaking at the launch of the research, by the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) and the New Economics Foundation.

He said: "If Andy Burnham is serious about ending rip-off Britain - fixing our broken system and putting money back in the pockets of ordinary people – rent controls simply must be at the top of his agenda."

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