New Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham has set out his plan for Britain with an emotional speech at Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Reaction from Somerset Labour has been positive with Bridgwater Labour Leader Brian Smedley saying “This was the best speech by a Labour leader in all my 40 years of party membership. He succesfully identified the problem as the Thatcherite 1980s and the solution as rolling back those years through public ownership and nationalised solutions. I don’t think a Labour leader before Burnham has had the vision and honesty to set this out and the mood from everyone here is supportive, positive and emotional.”
Andy Burnham went on to frame his vision as a “new social contract” and a clean break from decades of Thatcherite policies
The government will adjust the pensions “triple lock” from April 2030. Pensions will thereafter rise by either CPI inflation or a minimum of 2.5%, removing the automatic link to average earnings to generate “significant savings”. These pension savings will directly fund a landmark, newly created National Care Service. Low-income pensioners will be entirely exempt from paying income tax during the current Parliament.
Legislation will also be introduced later this year to repeal Margaret Thatcher’s 1980s “ideological ban on public ownership of water companies,” putting the UK on a 10-year path toward a fundamentally different, publicly controlled water system. There will also be a new, publicly owned energy company called GB Grid in order to challenge private operators, with the goal of bringing British energy costs in line with European neighbours within a decade.
Burnham further pledged a wider expansion of public control over housing and transport to overturn 40 years of national mismanagement. Labour will also launch a National Commission on Electoral Reform to review alternatives to the current first-past-the-post voting system.
And on Europe Burnham announced that the UK will host a summit later this year to strike new economic, business, and youth-opportunity deals with the European Union saying that Brexit has done “more harm than good,” and promising to layout broader long-term options for the UK-EU relationship to build prosperity and security.
Somerset Labour Reaction
Chair of Bridgwater CLP Tim Mander said “What a fantastic speech actually reduced me to tears on a couple of occasions. Really encouraged by the commitment to build more Council houses; bring utilities back under public control plus a long needed national care service. Add to that closer links to the EU and the icing on the cake was the plans for electoral reform.”
Labour Treasurer Jacqui Solomon added “Brilliant, had me at renationalising the water companies, then housing, social care and pension tax support. Good job.”
Bridgwater Labour’s Economy spokesman Mick Lerry commented “Andy Burnham outlined a clear Labour programme for the next 10 years, that identified real investment for the UK. He referred to rewiring the country and moving away from the devision of Thatcherism and Brexit. House building; Comprehensive Education; industrialisation and a Care Service for the 21st century, will be part of the Labour programme”
Somerset Labour Leader Leigh Redman, also at the Conference, said “Having looked at the prime minister speech headlines I’m really excited by what I heard. Every week I hear from residents struggling with housing repairs, worrying about care costs for elderly relatives, or facing tight family budgets. The focus on fixing social care, cutting energy pressure, and tackling poor landlord standards directly addresses the everyday issues raised on our doorsteps. My focus remains firmly on ensuring these national changes deliver tangible improvements for the households and neighborhoods I represent.”