Andy Burnham wants to 'convince ECHO readers with one fact' as Thatcher policy overturned

Andy Burnham wanted to "convince ECHO readers with one fact" while he was in Liverpool for the Labour Party conference.

The conference took place at ACC Liverpool from Sunday (October 8) to Wednesday (October 11). Keir Starmer's keynote speech, which began with a protester making his way onto the stage, aimed to present his party as a viable next government, promising to "rebuild Britain" over a decade of national renewal.

Riding high in the opinion polls and coming after a Conservative Party conference in Manchester which saw the government criticised for scrapping the northern leg of HS2, the opposition party was in a confident mood throughout the event. Closing the conference, Jonathan Ashworth said to the main hall: "Let's go out and win", reflecting the party's bullish spirit - urging the Conservatives to call an election that it has every confidence of winning.

Mr Burnham, the Merseyside-born Mayor of Greater Manchester, saw the conference as a very significant step on Labour's quest for power.

About being back in his home city for the event, the mayor told the ECHO: "It was great being back in Liverpool on Saturday for the match (Everton beat Bournemouth 3-0). The season ticket is back in place so I'm here all the time.

"Things are looking up on that front and on the political front as well. I think the feeling at the conference is that Liverpool is going to be the launchpad for a Labour government."

The conference arrived hot on the heels of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority's decision to bring buses back into public control 36 years after Margaret Thatcher's policy of deregulation was introduced. In a landmark move announced on October 6, the combined authority formally adopted a franchising model that will give it the power to set fares and routes across the six council areas.

It came a day after Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram opened Kirkby's new train station Headbolt Lane and followed Mr Burnham launching his publicly-controlled Bee Network in Greater Manchester in September. The Old Roan-born mayor directly addressed ECHO readers and he said that these recent developments, presented in contrast with the disappointing HS2 news, show the value of devolution.

He said: "Steve and I are working closely together to develop a plan for the North West, out of the ashes of the announcements of Manchester last week (the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 at the Tory conference). We have been given more ability now to shape what comes.

"Sadly we've not been given sufficient funding but we are in quite serious conversations with the Labour Party about what a Labour transport plan for the North might look like. We're hopeful that they will really deliver something that will transform transport in this part of the world.

"I know there are some ECHO readers who might be sceptical about devolution, but let me try and convince them with one fact. You have a position now where two mayors in the North West of England have overturned a key reform of the Thatcher government without even having a Labour government in power.

"That, I think, says that English devolution is coming of age. We can take decisions of that significance, to put buses back under public control.

"I think this shows, really clearly, that devolution is here to stay. It is changing things for the better and I think that will only increase the pace of that change under a Labour government."

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