Burnham ally to unveil ambitious plan to reverse decades of privatisation

Andy Burnham’s government should reverse 40 years of privatisation with a long-term plan to take over failing utilities in administration, issuing “bonds for shares” and setting up state competitors, according to a new blueprint for “Manchesterism”. The policy paper – The Productive State – is released on Monday as Burnham arrives in Westminster to be sworn in as the MP for Makerfield. He widely expected to seek to enter No 10 to replace Keir Starmer in a matter of weeks. Its author, Mathew Lawrence, who is close to Burnham and has worked with him on his thinking on public control of utilities – is publishing the paper with Mainstream, the Labour group that has been the vehicle for Burnham’s leadership ambitions. Miatta Fahnbulleh, the former minister who has been advising Burnham on policy, called it “an important contribution to the debate on how we fix this, deliver the change that people are crying out for and start to rebuild our broken economy”. Lawrence said the essay envisages “a state that owns, invests and provides to make life affordable. …