00:00The UK's new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has outlined broad changes to energy, public services, housing and regional government.
00:09Some are confirmed policies while others remain ambitions without detailed costs or timetables.
00:16The proposals would expand the state's role in parts of the economy and shift power away from Whitehall.
00:23Supporters see an opportunity for reform. Opponents question whether the plans are affordable or practical.
00:30Well Andy Burnham of course has become leader of a party that had been elected two years ago on a
00:35manifesto that was put before the country in 2024 when it was under Keir Starmer.
00:40Now of course the sort of the circuit breaking means of course it's kind of a reset but of course
00:44Burnham's got to be really careful that he sort of maintains adherence to that sort of manifesto.
00:48Which let's face it he didn't stand for because he wasn't in Parliament.
00:52Anyway nonetheless of course what Burnham is going to be trying to do is create big states.
00:58So what he's talked about is the sort of the problems that were created by Thatcherism and of course she
01:02came to power in 1979 and destroyed the state in many ways or people would argue that.
01:08But of course it was about the sort of the fact that you know lots of nationalised industries they became
01:12privatised and of course the rest as they say is history.
01:16Now in some cases we benefited from it in some cases we haven't.
01:19BT perhaps is a good case of benefit but say water and utilities is not.
01:23And of course we see in the sort of the fact that some water companies are sort of effectively bankrupt.
01:28Now of course you can't sort of stop water being supplied because of course that is the stuff of life.
01:32Of course the real difficulty is that if he's going to do that then of course you have to sort
01:37of pay off the shareholders unless they sort of go out of business.
01:40In which case of course you just pick up the bits.
01:42But of course the supply has to continue as in the case of all utilities.
01:46So that's a big problem.
01:47I think that people are sympathetic.
01:49The first financial measure removes VAT from domestic electricity from the 1st of October.
01:56It's expected to save an average household around £45 a year and cost the Treasury about £850 million this financial
02:06year.
02:07Funding will come from cancelling the digital identity programme.
02:11Longer term Burnham wants stronger public control of water, energy and transport.
02:17That could range from tighter intervention to public ownership when private utilities fail.
02:23But no detailed nationalisation programme has been announced.
02:28Supporters argue greater control could restrain bills.
02:32Critics warn acquiring companies could be costly.
02:35Successive governments have sort of looked at, thought about radical solutions and then basically kicked the ball into the long
02:40grass because of course it's too difficult.
02:42Or kick the can down the road if you prefer.
02:44So if he really is going to be radical he's going to have to sort of think clever about that
02:48one.
02:48We've also got the sort of the fact that we've got sort of a huge number of sort of so
02:52-called needs.
02:53The sort of the young people not in education, employment, training.
02:56What's he going to do to get them into the system?
02:58And there is a really important aspect to that because of course they become the earners of now and tomorrow
03:03and the future.
03:04And of course we've got a shrinking population but we've got a sort of a burgeoning sort of old age
03:09population.
03:10So how are we going to afford the sort of the pension which of course is going to be a
03:14phenomenal rate due to triple lock.
03:16Five other broad changes complete the emerging picture.
03:20Burnham wants more power and funding transferred from Whitehall to regional leaders.
03:25Alongside government purchasing designed to support British manufacturing.
03:30He's proposing more council housing and an urgent drive to reduce rough sleeping.
03:35Education reforms would increase the emphasis on technical training.
03:40Advocates believe these measures could spread opportunity and reduce expensive social problems.
03:47Opponents argue devolution does not automatically create growth.
03:51While housing, employment support and expanded services require substantial long-term funding that has not yet been identified.
04:01In the 2024 election that sort of taxes, you know, national tax, well the taxes we pay and that will
04:07not go up.
04:08And we've seen that sort of Rachel Reeves tried to sort of deal with employers' national insurance which of course
04:13has made the costs of sort of employing people.
04:16And particularly young people much more sort of difficult.
04:19Younger people are not getting into the workplace because of course, you know, why would you sort of bring someone
04:23on if you can get someone at the same sort of cost who's got lots of experience.
04:27And of course that becomes, if you like, a barrier to getting into the workplace.
04:30So there are huge structural sort of changes that sort of Burnham would like to do.
04:34And of course this idea is going to turn us to the 1970s.
04:37I don't think that's going to happen.
04:38That's just fantasy.
04:39But nonetheless, of course, the sort of the parallels with sort of 76, which I'm always going to remember when
04:45we had to go to the IMF.
04:47Andy Vernon will be acutely conscious that he doesn't want to put the country in financial hock any worse than
04:52it already is.
04:53But at the same time, he has to sort of to spend money to sort of create innovation and creativity.
04:58Because it's about the sort of the future prospects of tomorrow, which is going to create employment and the revenues
05:04that go into the sort of system.
05:06And hopefully we all get better off as a consequence.
05:08Big, big jobs he's got on his hands.
05:10And I wish him every success because if he succeeds, we all benefit.
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