00:00Keir Starmer was arguably at his best on the global stage.
00:04The man whose odds-on to replace him is keeping his focus much more local.
00:09In his first speech since returning to Westminster, Andy Burnham took to a podium in Manchester,
00:14where he was until recently mayor, to set out his vision for the country and the economy.
00:19He outlined plans to devolve fiscal powers to the regions.
00:23He said that this will be a radical devolution agenda,
00:26but promised to stick to the UK's fiscal rules and said that growth won't come from leaving everything to the
00:33markets.
00:33He pledged the biggest council house building programme in the post-war period.
00:38He said that he was going to reform business rates to support pubs and high street businesses.
00:43He pledged to do his best to give people breathing space as soon as he possibly can.
00:49But it was all quite vibes heavy and details light.
00:52Britons have heard before that there'll be more homes built, that Britain will be levelled up,
00:58that the cost of living will be eased.
01:00How Burnham will implement his vision of Manchesterism, we've yet to find out.
01:05It was billed as his first major economic speech,
01:08and yet he said that we'd have to wait several weeks for the conclusion of the Labour leadership contest,
01:13which is effectively now a one-horse race, to find out who his chancellor is going to be.
01:18Notably, Burnham said that it was all consistent with Labour's 2024 manifesto,
01:24so that at least perhaps answers the question of whether a general election is round the corner sometime soon.
01:29It seems the answer is likely not.
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