In remarks that will be seen as a comment on the Mandelson scandal, Andy Burnham said that “following recent events, I think the time has come to call an end to this era in British politics where politicians got too close to wealth”.
Greater Manchester’s Mayor was speaking in London at a Resolution Foundation event launching a report on living standards affecting the poorer half of Britain’s families
The Mayor in an event that was standing room only told the audience that it was important to refocus the British political debate on people who most need politics to work for them, people who face the biggest pressures”
“The truth is, the focus hasn’t been on them for far too long” he said adding thatthe housing crisis must be addressed to support unsung britain.
Burnham called for a new Government target for building 500,000 council and social homes by the end of the decade and said that he wanted new powers to compulsory purchase private rental homes that aren’t decent to live in.
In comments on the crisis in the Labour Party he added his voice to calls for stability across the Labour party but he added that “stability comes from greater unity, and that would be helped by a more inclusive way of running the party.”
“Recent events makes that feel possible”
The by-election in Gorton & Denton is “winnable” and people must reject politics of division
Meanwhile he tried to appease the bond markets
“I have never said Britain should ignore the bond markets, or even blamed them,
“What I do say is that it is the decisions of politicians from the 1980s onwards that have left us in hock to them, with little headroom and room for maneuver. It is only politicians who can take us out of that position with better choices.”
