Andy Burnham: I will not be the last prime minister of the UK

Andy Burnham has insisted he will not be the last prime minister of the United Kingdom but the “first to rewire it”.

Speaking for the first time at Labour’s conference since becoming party leader, he said he was “utterly determined” to prove First Minister John Swinney wrong.

Swinney told the press that Burnham would be “the last prime minister” of the UK during a visit to Cardiff where he was meeting his Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts.

SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein signed a memorandum of understanding which stated that “Westminster’s time is coming to an end” and the UK Government must “prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change”.

But speaking from the conference stage, Burnham rejected the idea and pledged to fight to keep the UK together.

He said: “Where I can’t agree with others, I will fight hard for what I believe to be right and what I believe to be in the best interests of this country.

“On the day my dad died, the Scottish first minister said I would be the last prime minister of the United Kingdom. I quote that not to seek sympathy nor to criticise John Swinney – I don’t think he knew the news at the time, and anyway my dad Roy would have been the first to defend his right to say it – I relay it because I want you to know how it made me feel: utterly determined to prove him wrong.”

A visibly emotional prime minister went on to speak about his dad’s values and the Britain he “represented”.

He continued: “Britain is not perfect; it can be better and we will make it so. But it still stands for something worth saving, worth fighting for. And we will always be stronger facing a changing world together, rather than separating.

“So I’m going to use this job to build the kind of Britain my dad wanted to see, and fight with everything I’ve got to keep it together.

“Not the last prime minister of the United Kingdom, rather the first to rewire it, to make it work for all people and places. Driving powers out of Whitehall and into every postcode of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England, and closing divides between people and places. The first prime minister to make a break with politics as usual.”

The prime minister also reiterated his commitment to bring forward a 10-year ‘Plan for Britain’ before the end of the year. This will include the establishment of a National Care Service.

The scrapping of the triple-lock on the state pension was confirmed for the end of the decade to pay for the new service. Burnham said that from April 2030, his government would “adjust” the mechanism so that pensions will increase either by inflation or 2.5 per cent.

The third protection mechanism, average earnings growth, will be scrapped – though the prime minister insisted the other two mechanisms would mean the state pension will keep the value “relative to earnings” over time.

He acknowledged that he “might pay a political price” for such a move, but the change was necessary to fund the new service which would be “as significant as the creation of the NHS itself”.

He warned that without addressing the problems in social care, it will “break the NHS” and he criticised previous generations of politicians for being “too cowardly to fix” the issue.

He added: “There is only one real answer: a person-centred, high-quality care service that starts in the home. A system in the best traditions of this party, where everyone contributes and everyone is covered. Free at the point of use, and no care charges paid out of your basic state pension. Care that is about people, not profit, which gives peace of mind of care needs in later life, which protections people’s homes and their savings, and which gives proper recognition to the care workers we will all need to rely on at some point in our lives. Conference, this is the National Care Service we will build.”

Social care is a devolved matter but any additional cash spent in England will come to Scotland via Barnett consequentials.

The Scottish Government previously tried to create a National Care Service but had to shelve the idea when it faced significant opposition amid concerns about cost.

Burnham also addressed the UK’s departure from the European Union, saying Brexit “hasn’t given us control” and “has done more harm than good”.

A future summit will be held at which the government will lay out options for the UK’s relationship with the EU going forward, he said, adding he hopes to “find consensus” on which route to take.

The prime minister also made a commitment to include electoral reform in Labour’s next election manifesto. A new national commission on electoral reform, to which all political parties will be invited, will be set up to consider the way forward.

Other announcements included the creation of Great British Grid, a publicly owned company to increase competition to improve grid connections, allowing public ownership of water companies, and more powers for councils in England on housing.