Andy Burnham's proposal to establish a 'No 10 North' and remain based in the North West rather than relocating to London as Prime Minister was met with scathing criticism on TalkTV. The Greater Manchester Mayor, often dubbed the King of the North, outlined plans to spend only a day or two a week in Manchester and use Downing Street only when working in the capital, keeping his family home near Wigan.
TalkTV Panel Rages at Burnham's Plans
On Tuesday's TalkTV show, host Kevin O'Sullivan and political commentator Philip Kiszely, senior fellow at The New Culture Forum, tore into Burnham's vision. Kiszely, who is from Manchester, said: 'The key thing is, nobody outside of Manchester cares about Manchester.' He added: 'He's going to be the first Prime Minister who works from home, and that's going to be a sign of the times.'
Promises Dismissed as Unrealistic
Kiszely took aim at Burnham's pledges, which include more council housing, public control of water and energy, greater power for the North, controlling borrowing, economic growth across the country, and getting young people back into education or work. He argued: 'What's not going to happen is investment isn't going to go up North, power isn't magically going to go up North because these things don't work like that.'
'If you invest local governments with so much power, it takes them around three years to get their heads around the mechanisms, by that time, Prime Minister Andy will just be a vague and slightly unpleasant memory. We'll have moved on by then,' Kiszely continued.
Urgency of Current Crises Highlighted
The commentator also stressed the pressing problems facing the country, quoting Nigel Farage and complaining: 'All of this isn't going to stop the boats, all of this isn't going to deal with mass immigration, all of this I would say as well isn't going to deal with Islamism.'
'All of those things are key pressing problems. They need to be together, they need to be in London, and they need to be at work, not at work in their pyjamas, and they need to be dealing with the pressing problems,' Kiszely fumed. He added: 'The stuff he's promising is going to take 10 years to materialise, if it ever does. We're in catastrophe, we are in dire straits, we need things done now.'
Burnham's Vision for a Northern Powerhouse
Burnham, 56, currently represents the people of Makerfield as an MP. His proposal to remain in the North West and commute to London has been framed as a move to decentralise power and boost the Northern economy. However, critics argue that the plan is impractical and fails to address immediate national crises.
