Starmer won’t bulldoze local government, says Burnham after Glastonbury speech

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Andy Burnham said Sir Keir Starmer will not “bulldoze” local government if he wins the General Election, after telling a Glastonbury crowd he will continue to “assert” Manchester’s devolved status.

The Labour Mayor of Manchester was speaking at Worthy Farm’s Speakers Forum about the “crisis of council funding” with Guardian journalist and podcaster John Harris, where he arrived wearing a green bucket hat sporting the words “Salford Lads Club”, inspired by an album from The Smiths.

He told the audience of around a hundred people to vote for “change” and that he has seen promising signs there will be “improved” devolution if Sir Keir Starmer wins next week’s election. READ MORE: Footage shows out-of-control XL Bully being chased by armed cops before being shot dead following horror attack on woman “I think it will change if Labour get in, it will improve, but it won’t stop being very difficult,” Mr Burnham told the crowd. “We’re going to continue to assert our devolved status.” Asked by the PA news agency after the talk how he will defend his constituents against centralised power in Westminster, Mr Burnham said: “We will work with whoever’s in government to get the balance right. “We’ve had a difficult debate already on planning in Greater Manchester… I’ll be honest, not everybody was happy with the result, but we’ve now got a plan that will allow us to go quickly (to bring) the growth the country needs. “I think with planning reform, we could do things better, but it must be with local people as much as you possibly can. “It’s not Keir’s style to just bulldoze things through, I think he’ll work with us to get the balance right.” Mr Burnham, who was met by applause from a supportive crowd, condemned the local government