Andy Burnham fights back tears as he delivers first conference speech as Prime Minister
By Finlay Nairn-White / @itsfinlayjourno
In what was an emotional first conference speech for the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham set out his diagnosis for the country and announced some major policies as to how his government plans to fix it.
Andy Burnham introduced himself to the conference to the theme tune ‘All Together Now’, promoting the message of “Hope again” (the conference slogan) and hammering the message of positive thinking drawing “a line on a decade of division”. He insisted that “we stop the doom-scrolling on posts putting Britain down” because the country needs to follow a new path.
“Imagine living in a Britain where people feel the country has got their back again. A Britain for everyone, no matter who we are or where we’re born. We would be unstoppable. And we will be.”
To achieve his vision for the country, the PM announced some major plans to help him achieve this. Some we have heard before, and some were completely new.
The biggest announcement was the introduction of the National Care System (NCS). This is something that has been rumoured for the last few days, however today we heard more details about how this will work and be funded.
Changes to the Triple-lock pension in 2030 (after the next general election) will help save the money to fund the NCS.
As it stands, the state pension is increasing every year by which is the highest out of: inflation, wage increases or 2.5%. The new changes will see this adjusted to increasing per year by inflation or 2.5%.
But this will only happen if Labour wins the next General Election - as Andy Burnham is sticking to the fiscal rules and manifesto pledges in which Labour was elected in 2024.
The PM accepts he may pay the “political price” for bringing these changes but acknowledges that “someone has to go through the pain barrier and rip the plaster off”.
Burnham says, “this change will generate significant savings which we will use to build up our National Care Service”.
The PM also announced that the environment secretary, Angela Eagle, will introduce a "strengthened Water Bill" which will start a 10-year journey "to a very different water system". It will strengthen public control and give Mayors new powers to hold water companies to account.
There were some other policy announcements which were a little sparser on the details.
One of these is housing. Andy Burnham says he will make it easier for councils to obtain private rented homes if Landlords refuse to act against poor conditioned buildings. This will happen if landlords refuse to act after repeated warnings.
Burnham says he will change the law “if necessary”.
The PM also announced a reform on the electoral system, making changes to the current voting system for UK parliamentary elections.
He also mentioned a few policies we have already heard. These included: the £2 bus fare cap from January 2027, 20% cut on business rates for clubs, pubs and live music venues and the biggest council housing scheme since the cold war.
Towards the end of his speech, Andy Burnham paid an emotional tribute to his late Father, Roy Burnham.
“Whatever its flaws, this country gave my dad a good life”, Burnham said, fighting back the tears.
The drive to push these policies through, is inspired by the loss of his Father, especially the launch of the NCS.
Andy Burnham is “utterly determined” to deliver on the promises he has made at this conference, especially after John Swinney (First Minister of Scotland) said he would be the last PM of the UK.
“If only, if only he had been able to appreciate that moment of the family in Downing Street…The son of a man who failed his 11-plus becoming Prime Minister.”
Andy Burnham's premiership will likely be defined by his “landmark policy” to reform social care and motivated by his own experiences with his family.
And is he confident he can do just that.
Burnham ended his speech citing the song that introduced him, ‘All Together Now’ and re-instated the message of “Hope Again”
To one final applause, the message was simple “We can do it. We will believe again. We will hope again”.
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