Burnham’s wish to devolve more power and spend more money in the regions will bring slower growth and less economic success.We know this from the 25 year experiment with devolved government, more public spending and borrowing in Wales and Scotland since 2000. The GDP results from ONS show the following for 2000-2025
England GDP plus 48.5%
Scotland. plus 41.2%
Wales. plus 33.8%
These facts have been set out with good charts to highlight the differences by Facts4eu.
These are huge divergencies showing there is a big prosperity cost to dear devolved government. Doubtless many Scottish and Welsh voters want to carry on with it, and that is their democratic right confirmed by referendum. Voters in England see from that that we do not want the economic harm even bigger government brings. In England voters voted down North Eastern government when asked in a referendum and were right to do so.
Andy Burnham also needs to consider the contradiction in his policies. He both thinks more devolved power to regions help, and thinks more laws and taxes should be set by the EU through the EU re set give aways. Both these propositions cannot be true as they contradict each other. Both can be wrong, and are wrong. You get faster growth, more jobs and more investment with less government, fewer laws and lower taxes. That is why you need to say No to EU re set and to bigger devolved government to city regions.
June 30, 2026
Is the “West Lothian” issue relevant to his thinking?
Is he planning to reduce central grants to devolved areas, while allowing them new tax raising powers to compensate? Or are we all just going to have to pay for this grand experiment by subsidising madcap mayors across the country?
June 30, 2026
Burnham implies our GDP growth slump is due to a lack of devolved government in the regions. If that is the case why did we grow solidly pre-2000? We averaged about 3% growth and even had 5.5% highs under Margaret Thatcher and 4.9% highs under John Major without any devolved government.
If Burnham was sincere about economic growth he would address the real underlying problems which so far he has not said a thing about.
June 30, 2026
This used to be called a BGO. Not to understand it requires either a befuddled brain or a particular enmity towards Britain. Burnham is a Cambridge graduate in English literature. He is not befuddled. He, like Starmer and Hermer, all Fabians, hates Britain and wants sovereign nation states replaced by a socialist world order ruled by people like them.
There is only one person ahead of them: Shabana Mahmood. She can see these people are doormats for accelerating Muslim immigration etc ed. We should take her at her word. She has said that Islam drives everything she does. So she is transferring control of what is currently illegal immigration from the gangs to what she calls communities in Britain, ie, mosques, sharia councils, and other muslim organisations, under a new legalising framework. The Islamification of Britain is being put on steroids. The econmomy is very much a secondary consideration as Islam is not material in its beliefs.
i am sure this is not what Burnham et al on the Left want, but they don’t do God, so they are not capable of understanding the danger. They see Islam is just another whacko religion.
Reply Mahmood has been tougher in talk to reduce immigration, but now probably under pressure from the left and worrying about her job with Burnham is proposing worrying relaxations.
June 30, 2026
Exactly JR but I suppose per cap figure might be better though doubtless limited, we do not need more power and spending give, politicians, be they local or central government. Drakeford and Sturgeon were both appalling disasters. Encourage investment and growth with far lower taxes, cheap reliable energy, ditch net zero, a bonfire of red tape and leave the power and money with the people who made and know how to make it – individuals and businesses. Blair’s botched devolution was a disaster it was done to help Labour but actually helped independence parties like SNP and Plaid with disastrous results. With local languages forced down people’s throats and painted on police cars and road signs.
Drakeford, an ex-professor of Social Policy and Applied Social Sciences at Cardiff University, was as one would expect a total disaster as was (CND fan) Nicola Sturgeon another bitter, class warrior and deluded lefty lawyer like Blair and Starmer.
June 30, 2026
Sturgeon like ( spiteful?) Bridget Phillipson) both had parents who benefited from Thatcher’s right to buy it seems).