Burnham blames Brexit for ‘decade of low growth’ in UK

Andy Burnham has lashed out at the legacy of Brexit, saying it “ushered in a decade of low growth” which the UK is still paying for, as he made his first statement as prime minister to the Commons.

In an unexpected attack on the legacy of leaving the EU, he listed the “series of wrong turns” the UK has made since the 1980s and warned Brexit had embedded the problems caused by over centralisation of government, deindustrialisation and privatisation of industry.

The statement was framed as Mr Burnham laying out his vision for government after he took over from Sir Keir Starmer in a bloodless coup in July. But while he has stated he will stick to Sir Keir’s red lines on Brexit of not rejoining the EU, single market or customs union, his words will provide hope that he may well look to change course by the next election.

The statement marked a significant change of tone from Sir Keir’s two years in office with Mr Burnham emphasising that he wanted to move away from “point scoring” to working with other parties to fix problems.

He warned: “Britain is not where any of us would wish it to be. Things are not working as they should. Life is too expensive and too hard for too many. This is why this government's first moves were to give businesses and people a little breathing space.”

Turning to the series of wrong turns that have led to the decline of living standards in the UK, he made a point of blasting Brexit, having said a year ago when he was mayor of Manchester that he favoured rejoining the EU.

He told MPs: “From the 1980s, this country took a series of wrong turns. Political power was centralised, economic power privatised. The country deindustrialised.