The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham has said Thatcherite privatisation, that the Tory leadership candidates want to continue, has created “chaos” on trains, unaffordable bus fares and raw sewage on beaches.
Speaking on Sky News this morning he said that people needed to be able to afford the basic services and advocated public ownership of utilities to tackle the cost of living crisis.
“When we sold off the water, sold off the electricity, sold off the gas, sold the council homes, sold off the buses, sold that the trains, we found ourselves in a position where ordinary people can’t afford those basics anymore.”
Instead, he said “change is needed in the way that we provide those essential services”, and there is “certainly a case for more public control, more public ownership of essential utilities”.
Burnham added that the public is “genuinely scared about what’s coming” and “looking for people to speak up for them”, appealing to MPs to work with one another on a solution.
“I would say to all my colleagues in Westminster, my old colleagues, I think we need to start approaching the cost of living crisis like we did the early stages of the pandemic, wherethe parties came together and started to think of interventions that perhaps they wouldn’t think of in normal times, where key workers were recognised and properly respected and rewarded,”
The Mayor was also asked whether he would join a picket line and said:
“I would, you know. I don’t see this as controversial. People are fighting for their incomes in a cost of living crisis. Of course you’ve got to recognise the point that they are making.”
Meanwhile asked about his feelings on the Don’t Pay UK movement which is calling on consumers to withhold payment for energy bills,he told the programme
At this stage it’s definitely a step I wouldn’t support,We’ve got to live within the rule of law. We’ve got to keep a country where people respect the rules and the way of doing things.
“I understand why people are saying it but I wouldn’t in any way recommend that that’s the way people should go. What we need is action to make things affordable for people, but I do feel that that kind of call will increase unless we see the scale of action that is going to be needed.”
