Burnham to offer Scotland devolution deal in Lanarkshire speech
The prime minister is expected to invite first minister John Swinney to push decision-making down to Scottish regions, as the SNP meets in Aberdeen.
At a glance
- Andy Burnham is in Scotland to give a Lanarkshire speech offering the Scottish government a devolution partnership.
- The SNP's Stephen Flynn accused Burnham of hypocrisy for ruling out an independence referendum but reopening Brexit debate.
- The visit coincides with the SNP's Aberdeen conference, which it says launches its biggest pro-independence campaign since 2014.
Prime minister Andy Burnham is in Scotland today, where he is expected to use a speech in Lanarkshire to invite Scotland's first minister, John Swinney, to work with him on devolving decision-making away from both Westminster and Holyrood and pushing control further down to Scottish regions and towns.
The newswires have reported an extract of the speech, which Burnham is expected to deliver around midday. In it, he says he told the first minister in his first week in office that he wanted to work with him "to spread opportunities to communities across Scotland's regions and cities".
He also points to No10 North, saying: "we are rewiring the state and I want to make sure regions in Scotland are fully part of this". He describes the address as "me making an offer to the Scottish government", adding: "With us working together, there is no limit to what we can achieve for the Scottish people."
SNP accuses PM of hypocrisy
The visit coincides with the SNP's annual party conference in Aberdeen, which the party has said will launch the biggest pro-independence campaign since the 2014 referendum.
Burnham has repeatedly ruled out another independence referendum. The SNP has accused him of hypocrisy for proposing to reopen the debate on Brexit and re-examine the UK's relationship with the EU.
SNP minister Stephen Flynn told the Press Association: "That hypocrisy is there for all to see and I think the Scottish electorate will take a pretty dim view of it."
Flynn said his party also wanted power pushed out of Westminster, but argued that decisions should be taken by the Scottish people through an independence referendum, saying: "let's make sure that power and that decision making is taken by the Scottish people and they have the opportunity to do so in an independence referendum."
Other developments
The Financial Times reported that young people who rely on benefits would receive less money in exchange for more intensive health and employment support, under plans for a separate youth welfare system. Alan Milburn, who is leading a major review into Britain's youth jobs crisis, will recommend that benefits for young people not in education, employment or training be delivered through a different process, sources told the newspaper.
Reform's Robert Jenrick responded to claims by his colleague Sarah Pochin that the party is "chauvinistic", after she was recorded by an undercover ITV news reporter complaining about the party's culture. "That's not my experience of Reform," Jenrick told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
John Healey is planning to increase taxes on the UK banking sector in his 28 October budget, the Guardian understands. One option on the table is reversing former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt's 2023 cut to the bank profit surcharge, from 3% back to 8%.
Source: The Guardian World.
Questions and answers
- What is Andy Burnham proposing for Scotland?
- He is expected to invite first minister John Swinney to work with him on devolving decision-making away from Westminster and Holyrood and pushing control down to Scottish regions and towns, through a structure he calls No10 North.
- Why has the SNP accused Andy Burnham of hypocrisy?
- SNP minister Stephen Flynn said the prime minister rules out another independence referendum while proposing to reopen the debate on Brexit and re-examine the UK's relationship with the EU.
- What else is in the UK politics live blog?
- It covers reported plans for a separate youth welfare system under which young benefit claimants would get less money but more intensive support, Robert Jenrick's response to claims Reform is chauvinistic, and expected bank tax rises in the 28 October budget.
