Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham has said the that the only way to rewire the state is electoral and constitutional reform
Speaking on video to the Institute of Government Conference, he said that MP’s should be elected by proportional representation and that the House of Lords should be replaced with a senate of the nations and regions
The Mayor said his experience of campaigning for second preferences has shown him that it “changes the conversation in the way that the public has always wanted it to change, to solutions [and] collaboration”
In a wide ranging speech he attacked the Department of Education for its “ongoing resistance” to giving authorities such as his greater powers over post-16 education and the Department for Transport, saying:
“It comes up with cost-saving infrastructure that actually limits the growth potential because it builds it in the wrong way and we’ve had those arguments around rail infrastructure in Greater Manchester.”
In a swipe at the Treasury the Mayor said urged the Chancellor to reform the tax system, telling delegates:
“I would support… a rebalancing of taxation so that we help the high street and, if you like, rebalance in terms of taxation, in terms of the online world.
While on the subject of council tax he said
“Who in that room could justify a situation of council tax being left not revalued for three decades? I mean, that is a shameful dereliction of duty. Or a subject close to my heart, social care, being left unreformed.”
At the same conference Wes Streeting lashed out at Labour figures who blame Whitehall for the failure to implement change fast enough
“Where there aren’t levers, we build them,” the health sec told the Institute for Government conference this morning. “Where there are barriers, we bulldoze them. Where there is poor performance, we challenge it.”
He added: “Bafflingly, some on my own side of the political divide have begun to parrot the same argument. They complain about the civil service. They blame stakeholder capture.”
