Helen Pidd Has been one of Andy Burnham’s constituents for almost a decade now. She says she has seen Greater Manchester flourish under his watch. Now he wants to do for the rest of the country what he has done for his region. On Monday Burnham stood at the People’s History Museum in Manchester and delivered his economic manifesto. Barring an 11th-hour challenge or unexpected disaster, he will reach No. 10 by the end of July. But he says he wants to make another No. 10. One Manchester. What he is promising is radical, but how credible is “rewiring” Britain?
Neil Lawson is the founder of the pressure group Compass and more recently the Burnham-aligned Mainstream. He explains to Helen why Burnham is so eager to transfer power and what he wants to nationalize. But, he adds, “I think what Burnham has done is kind of a minor miracle, getting to base camp. And now there’s a mountain to climb.”
