Henry Zeffman: Andy Burnham offers a blueprint for his premiership

This was billed as an economic speech. There was a promise to raise living standards for everyone, a commitment to reform business rates in order to support businesses like pubs, and an intriguing if vague hint of giving people "a bit extra" to cope with rising costs. Yet it felt like at its core this was really a speech about power and where it is exercised. Of course power is partly an economic question, but the first arguments Burnham made for devolving power related to political culture rather than economic growth. In this broader critique of the "broken" Westminster system, Burnham attacked "finger-pointing", which he said was "destructive of what remains of public trust in politics". His call for a "more collaborative politics" - perhaps a hint at seeking cross-party talks on an elusive solution to the problem of social care - became an argument for why power must be localised. On his return to becoming a national politician, Burnham was at pains to praise the "positives in all places and all postcodes", saying he would help rural areas and boost coastal communities. And London, he said, is the world's greatest capital city. That may have been a response to the sprinkling of unease - no stronger than that - which is already being expressed by a handful of the many Labour MPs who represent seats in London and the south-east of England about Burnham's strong association with the north-west. …