Arabic version: أندي بيرنهام يستعد لإلقاء خطاب قيادي كبير في مانشستر

According to BBC News,

Andy Burnham will give what his team has called “his first major leadership speech” on Monday morning and will promise to “lift Britain back up to where it should be”. In an address at the People’s History Museum in Manchester, the new MP for nearby Makerfield will say as prime minister he would “give Britain the circuit breaker it needs”. His inner circle describe it as “the foundational text” of his programme for government.

Central to his plans is handing more power to politicians beyond Westminster, in what is claimed would be “the biggest transfer of power out of Whitehall in modern times”. However, it isn’t thought his ideas would be as significant as the setting up of the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and the Northern Ireland Assembly, nor the introduction of regional mayors in England.

Allies of the former mayor of Greater Manchester say Burnham’s time in that job proved to him “how resistant Whitehall can be to devolution”, as one put it, and that he wanted that to change. One idea, described as a “flagship proposal”, is the creation of what is being called a “No10 North” – with a part of the prime minister’s operation being based in Manchester. The aim is that this unit would be “to drive devolution” and it would be responsible for “good growth in every postcode” of the UK.

Burnham will also talk of his desire for what he calls “public control” of energy, water and transport – but a central question will be how much detail he offers about what he would want to do and on what timescale. How much state intervention would he seek and how close might it be to nationalisation?

Burnham’s team say having sketched out his vision he will be able to continue to work out who he places in key roles in his cabinet. A central dilemma for Burnham in the coming weeks is whether to appoint Energy Secretary Ed Miliband as his chancellor. It is a live, ongoing discussion within his team. They insist no jobs have been offered to anybody yet.

Burnham faces an extraordinary three weeks ahead. Three weeks today, he could become prime minister, assuming, as is widely expected, he doesn’t face a contest for the Labour leadership. In the next three weeks, he has to charm Labour MPs, sell his vision to the country, decide who will serve in his government and wrestle with the huge challenges that currently face Sir Keir Starmer.