A decade-long project to bring water and energy into public control will lie at the heart of Andy Burnham’s agenda should he become prime minister, according to sources close to the Greater Manchester mayor.
Several close allies of Burnham have said he wants to take over broad swathes of UK utilities in an effort to improve performance and potentially reduce bills for consumers.
The move would constitute one of the biggest transfers of ownership of British industry since the privatisations of the 1980s, but could also leave the public on the hook for billions of pounds’ worth of infrastructure upgrades and running costs.
One Burnham ally said: “When Andy says he wants the public to have control over ‘the essentials of life’, we should believe him. He is completely serious.”
Burnham himself has said he wants to see “the essentials of life being run primarily for the public interest, not for the private interests”, but has not spelled out exactly what that would mean on a national scale.
Andy Burnham on a campaign visit to Ashton-in-Makerfield before the Makerfield byelection. Photograph: Jon Super/APA spokesperson for Burnham would not comment further on his policy plans.
With Labour figures increasingly confident of victory in next week’s Makerfield byelection, senior Burnham allies are now beginning to turn their attention to how to turn his political vision into concrete policies.
While the Manchester mayor spends his time knocking on doors in the run-up to polling day, a small group of people close to him have been collating ideas for government.
Those feeding in ideas include Josh Simons, the outgoing Makerfield MP, and Miatta Fahnbulleh, the former energy minister. Neither of the two would comment, though friends of Fahnbulleh have said she is doing her own policy thinking which Burnham could use rather than doing it on his behalf.
Other contributors include John Wrathmell, Labour’s former head of economic policy who now works with Burnham at the mayoral authority, JP Spencer, the devolution expert at the ThinkLabour thinktank, and Tom Whitney, an adviser to the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander.
At the heart of the agenda, according to those briefed, is a proposal to bring utilities back under public control, starting with the stricken Thames Water.
Burnham told the Guardian last week: “Public ownership is absolutely an option. I would say for Thames Water, that is what should be done.”
His allies want the government to take the company into special administration rather than accepting a deal offered by creditors which would write off up to £1bn in environmental fines.
They said the government could then take over the company, though at a cost to taxpayers given administrators are likely to insist creditors get some compensation.
The government has argued such an action would cost £100bn, but some legal experts have said it could be done much more cheaply if administrators agreed that creditors should take little or no compensation.
After that, a Burnham government is likely to take over water companies as they either fail or their franchises come up for renewal, his supporters have said.
The model for this would be the government initiative with the railways, which are being taken under public ownership via a plan first launched by Louise Haigh, Burnham’s campaign manager, when she was transport secretary.
Hence then, the article about public control of water and energy at heart of burnham agenda sources say was published today ( ) and is available on NY Times News ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Public control of water and energy at heart of Burnham agenda, sources say )
Also on site :