Andy Burnham has marked his first 100 days as Prime Minister by pledging that his Government will need to go further to earn people's hope, promising more change that people can see in their lives and feel in their communities.
In an exclusive piece reflecting on the milestone, Burnham said he stood in Downing Street a hundred days ago and promised to do things differently, including putting decisions back into the hands of the people they affect and tackling problems Westminster had got too comfortable ignoring.
He acknowledged that there were plenty of people who told him all of this would be impossible, but said that a few months in, together, they are proving them wrong.
Power handed back to towns and cities
Burnham said the Government has started handing power back to towns, cities and communities on a scale not seen in decades. Mayors will be given more control over transport, skills and housing, along with a share of the income tax raised in their area, and he wants areas without mayors to get new powers and funding so that no postcode is left behind.
With the creation of No10 North, he said the full force of government is being put behind those people and places too.
Confronting long-ignored problems
The Prime Minister said the Government has started confronting problems that successive governments have ducked, including building a National Care Service that treats people with the respect they deserve and bringing the country together to get people sleeping rough off the streets once and for all.
Alongside those big issues, he said the Government has kept an eye on everyday things that make life harder than it needs to be. Measures already introduced include banning subscription traps, ending rip-off discounts and unfair parking charges, cutting costs for school uniforms, capping bus fares and scrapping VAT on electricity bills.
More change to come
Burnham said he is not pretending the job is done, adding that he knows how much pressure families across the country are still under. He said the Government will need to go further to earn people's hope, including in the Budget, not with words but with more change people can see in their lives and feel in their communities.
Describing the milestone as just the beginning, he said there are big plans to transform the country and that he will not stop until people can look to the future with hope again.
