Andy Burnham's plan for devolution backed by Labour MP: 'It's what the country needs!'

Andy Burnham's plan to devolve British politics has been backed by Labour MP Alex Ballinger.

Speaking to GB News, the Halesowen MP declared that Mr Burnham's plan to fix a "broken" Westminster is "what the country needs".

Setting out his vision for the country in a speech to the nation today, Mr Burnham laid out how he would deliver the "biggest transfer of power out of Whitehall in modern times".

He said: "The time has come to build the broadest possible coalition of people to lift Britain back up to where we all want it to be.

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"After 10 years of political turbulence since Brexit and 20 years of falling living standards since the 2008 financial crash, Westminster has not been working for people, and it has not been working for a very long time."

Throwing his support behind Mr Burnham's plan, Mr Ballinger told GB News he is "optimistic" about the leading Labour leadership candidate.

He said: "I'm really optimistic about Andy's speech this morning. He's talking about devolution, moving power out of London, out of Whitehall, back into the regions. I think we all know that decisions are better made when they're made closer to people.

"And because the UK is such a centralised country, this is really something that should have happened a long time ago, so I'm really excited about the changes that Andy's talking about and how they could affect my region."

Backing Mr Burnham's calls for more power in the West Midlands, he added: "It would mean more power for the region here, more power over transport, more power over skills, more power over decision making that affects people's lives.

"So I think it's a really positive speech, and I'm looking forward to hearing more of them coming up."

Highlighting Mr Burnham's plan to "water down" the whipping system, the Labour MP was challenged by host Tom Harwood on whether the move would create "more rebellion" within the Labour Party.

Mr Ballinger responded: "I think there's a lot to be said for having more consensus in politics. If you look at what Andy has done in Manchester, he's walked across different parties to get stuff done on transport, on skills, and on housing, and it's the same approach I think he wants to take to Westminster.

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"A bit more consensus, a bit more working across the aisle – it's probably helpful and it's probably what the country needs."

Mr Ballinger was quizzed by host Dawn Neesom on "where all the money is coming from" for Andy Burnham to fund all of his proposed schemes.

The Labour MP told GB News: "As I understand it, this is not about spending more money; it's about moving where that money is spent.

"So rather than the Treasury making decisions on transport, it's about moving those decisions to Manchester, to the Midlands and to the south west, so local people can decide on how it's spent and prioritise it for their particular area.

"And as you know, money is spent better and more efficiently in those areas on the priorities people care about ,so it's not about spending more money, it's about spending money better."

Asked by Dawn why Mr Burnham is yet to speak on the issue of immigration, Mr Ballinger said Britons can "expect more from him in the coming weeks".

He concluded: "I expect Andy will be doing a speech on immigration in the coming weeks.

"You'll hear lots about his plans to be tough, to take forward what Shabana Mahmood has been talking about, and how we make a system fair for British people."

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