Andy Burnham says there is a “case” for bringing utility companies back into public ownership to tackle the cost of living crisis, saying privatising the firms “is what got us into the mess that we’re in right now”.
The Labour mayor of Greater Manchester criticised the Tory leadership contenders for “promising more Thatcherism” if they get the keys to Number 10.
He told Sky News’s Kay Burley: “When we sold off the water, sold off the electricity, sold off the gas, sold the council homes, sold off the buses, sold that the trains, we found ourselves in a position where ordinary people can’t afford those basics anymore.”
Instead, he said “change is needed in the way that we provide those essential services”, and there is “certainly a case for more public control, more public ownership of essential utilities”.
The comments contradict the official position of the Labour Party leadership, with Sir Keir Starmer ruling out nationalisation of energy firms last year.
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Mr Burnham said he supported his current boss and praised Sir Keir’s cost of living policy of freezing energy bills as “a good start”.
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But he also said there was “a case to go further”, adding: “This is a massive crisis, the scale of which we’ve not faced before. It will require politicians to do different things, to intervene in markets, to protect people.
“And it’s really important that I use my voice to say that and hopefully give people the space to come forward and work out plans that will get the country through this.
Asked by Kay Burley if he would rule out a return to Westminster and another attempt at becoming Labour leader himself, the mayor said he would consider running “one day, if that were ever something that that would be something people would support”.
But he said: “Not now because we’ve got a leader of the Labour Party who is providing leadership in the cost of living crisis.”
Mr Burnham added: “Just being honest, in the future? You know, I’ve said I will serve my full second term as mayor of Manchester, [but] if at some point way beyond the point where we are… that was something that was a possibility. I would consider it. But I’m just focussed on what I’m doing right now.”
‘People are genuinely scared’
The government has been accused of being missing in action over the summer recess when it comes to tackling the cost of living crisis, while neither of the two remaining Tory leadership candidates – Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – have set out in full their plans to help households and businesses.
Over the weekend, reports suggested Ms Truss – who is the frontrunner in the contest and has previously dismissed the idea of giving “handouts” to people – is planning to cut VAT from 20% to 15%, alongside her pledges to reverse the National Insurance hike and pause green levies.
But there have been mixed messages from sources in her team over whether she would sign off on direct support to households or targeted support for the least well-off.
Mr Sunak’s team criticised the rumoured VAT cut as expensive and “incredibly regressive”, with the former chancellor saying help with energy bills should be directed at low-income households and pensioners – delivered through the welfare system and winter fuel payments.
The Liberal Democrats, Labour and the SNP have all called for a freeze on the price cap, as well as additional support for the least well-off households.
Mr Burnham said the public is “genuinely scared about what’s coming” and “looking for people to speak up for them”, appealing to MPs to work with one another on a solution.
“I would say to all my colleagues in Westminster, my old colleagues, I think we need to start approaching the cost of living crisis like we did the early stages of the pandemic, where the parties came together and started to think of interventions that perhaps they wouldn’t think of in normal times, where key workers were recognised and properly respected and rewarded,” he added.
