Angela Rayner has given her backing to incoming prime minister Andy Burnham’s plans to move power out of Westminster and into town halls around the country.
Call for Deeper Cultural Change
The Labour MP and former deputy prime minister said she wanted to see “a much deeper cultural change” in how Britain is governed, and also hit out at her party in Government for not being bold enough in its agenda. Mr Burnham, who looks set to enter Downing Street within weeks, on Monday pledged to “rewire” the British state with greater decision-making handed to local leaders.
His flagship proposal was the creation of an outpost of 10 Downing Street based in Manchester, which would serve as the “nerve centre” through which to deliver priorities including reindustrialisation and redistributing power across the UK.
Rayner's Speech on Centralisation
Ms Rayner echoed his language about devolving power in a speech in central London on Wednesday night, where she described the UK as “one of the most over-centralised countries in the developed world”. The senior Labour figure is reportedly keen on a return to the front line of Government, after having been cleared by HMRC earlier this year following a row over her tax affairs.
She claimed her work on English devolution had helped to set the direction for moving powers out of Westminster, but insisted ministers needed to go further by “making devolution the default”. Ms Rayner said: “The country needs a much deeper cultural change, and the scale of that challenge can’t be underestimated. Because the institutions of central government are unfortunately part of the problem. We have the worst combination of micro-management and control from the centre, without the resource or focus to make it effective. Whitehall empires hoard their own power. And layers of governance and bureaucracy, developed with all the best of intentions, too often end with the triumph of process over purpose. And I want to see that purpose restored.”
Criticism of Starmer's Agenda
Ms Rayner also appeared to suggest Sir Keir Starmer’s governing agenda had been too timid, and that a constitutional overhaul was necessary for Labour to beat its electoral opponent Reform UK. She said: “By avoiding structural change, we risk confirming the right-wing populists’ narrative: that ‘the establishment can only do more of the same’. When the British people voted in a Labour Government just two years ago, they voted not just against a Tory government that did not stand up for their interests but for political change that touched their lives. Disillusioned by a system that is rigged against them, which they want us to transform.”
She then took aim at Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which she said was making a “toxic” offer to a dissatisfied electorate. Ms Rayner said: “Nigel Farage claims to speak for working people. But never forget that he voted against new rights for workers – every step of the way. But we will not defeat him with caution. This is a time for boldness, a time for courage.”
Support from Other Figures
Mr Burnham’s proposals have already got the backing of Housing Secretary Steve Reed, who said it was a “great idea” and threw his weight behind the Makerfield MP’s pledge to “go further and faster” on devolution. The Housing Secretary, seen so far as an arch Starmer loyalist, also said he hoped Mr Burnham would be installed in No 10 “as quickly as possible” by the end of July as he enjoyed “very widespread support amongst the Parliamentary Labour Party”.
Elsewhere, Tory grandee Lord Heseltine told the Press Association he backed the proposal of a “No 10 in the North”, which he described as “an important gesture in the right direction”. But the Conservative former minister, and early proponent of devolution in the 1980s, suggested that focusing the unit on decentralisation would matter more than its location.
