Ed Davey: Burnham labelled ‘Avanti Andy’ as he is issued warning over London-Manchester power bubble
Andy Burnham’s Manchester-based “No 10 North” plan risks creating a new power bubble and overlooking communities left behind, Sir Ed Davey has said.
The Liberal Democrat leader will say during a visit to Torbay in Devon that the prime minister’s devolution proposals could push the Government “further away” from regions such as the South West.
In a fresh attack on Sir Keir Starmer’s possible successor, Sir Ed will call the former tube mayor “Avanti Andy” and tell him: “There is a Britain beyond the rails connecting Euston and Manchester Piccadilly.”
Mr Burnham, who looks set to enter Downing Street on July 20, vowed in a speech last week to “restructure” the British state by giving local leaders more decision-making powers.
Its flagship proposal was the creation of an outpost at 10 Downing Street, based in Manchester; He said it would serve as the “nerve center” for delivering on priorities including reindustrialization and renewal.
Ahead of his visit, Sir Ed said: “London and Manchester are excellent cities and engines of innovation for our country, but if Avanti Andy does not quickly realize that there is a Britain beyond the tracks connecting Euston and Manchester Piccadilly, it is heading for signal failure.
“From the Devon coast to the streets of Swansea and the shores of Shetland, people are tired of being overlooked.
“Andy Burnham has a very short window to turn this Government around, end the chaos and build trust in communities right across the UK.
“From restarting abolished rural bus services to saving our high streets from deadly decay, the Liberal Democrats will hold Avanti Andy to account on putting real power back into the hands of local communities.”
Mr Burnham is almost guaranteed to become the UK’s next prime minister after 322 Labor MPs nominated him to take over from Sir Keir Starmer.
In total, it means there are only 81 Labor MPs left who can nominate another candidate; This is the minimum number required to participate in the vote.
However, convention mandates that the outgoing leader must not nominate a candidate; This means that in effect there are no longer enough unannounced MPs to support an alternative to Mr Burnham.
The former Greater Manchester mayor has secured candidates making up 80 per cent of the parliamentary party by 5pm on Thursday; this was the first day MPs could officially support a leadership candidate.
Even before nominations opened, it seemed almost certain that Mr Burnham would enjoy his coronation as Labor leader as the only announced candidate in the race to replace Sir Keir.
But the magnitude of support for the party in parliament means that even a late challenger now has no hope of gaining the necessary nomination.
Mr Burnham also signaled a tougher Labor policy towards Israel in support of Gaza.
He posted a video on social media apologizing for the party’s response to Gaza, stating: “We weren’t good enough.”
This intervention is significant as Gaza and Israel are cornerstone issues within the Labor Party and raise major concerns for Keir Starmer’s government.
Mr Burnham apologized for Labour’s initial response to Israel’s military action in Gaza and admitted Labor “didn’t get it right”.
