Andy Burnham vows to decentralise power in Scotland

Andy Burnham has vowed to decentralise power in Scotland as part of a strategy to "power up" all parts of the UK.

The former Greater Manchester mayor, who is expected to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister after being elected to Westminster, said he would deliver the "biggest change in our lifetime to the way the country is run".

He said this would include taking power away from devolved parliaments and empowering communities.

If no other Labour MP makes a leadership bid, Burnham is expected to become prime minister on 20 July.

In a speech setting out his pitch to the public, the Makerfield MP said he wanted to redistribute power and resources across the UK.

He pledged that a "streamlined state" would "power up all parts of the country".

Burnham said the process would provide "new opportunities to extend devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by taking power deeper down".

He said: "The people of Dundee and Bangor feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster."

Key to the strategy is the extension of the prime minister's office to Manchester, to be called the "Number 10 North".

Burnham described the Westminster system as "broken" and called for "radical" change.

He pledged to "make politics work for you and the place where you live".

The Labour leadership hopeful said the days of Whitehall fighting against the devolution of power into nations and regions were "over for good".

Scotland is the most devolved part of the UK, with powers over health, education and transport, as well as the ability to administer benefits and set taxes.

However, the Scottish government has not adopted the English system of regional mayors, who have considerable powers in their areas.

Burnham called for power in Scotland to be decentralised.

He suggested that employment support, for example, could be reformed to give more control to local grassroots organisations.

This could allow for different employment support systems to be set up in different parts of Scotland, depending on the needs of each area.

SNP Westminster Leader Dave Doogan said: "Andy Burnham is making the same empty promises, while keeping all of Westminster's most damaging policies - Brexit, austerity cuts and Tory spending rules.

"The SNP has been calling for meaningful devolution for years but there is nothing of substance for Scotland in these proposals - and nothing that will fundamentally improve people's lives."

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said Burnham needs to "flesh out" the details on any new powers.

He added: "Scots will be instinctively alarmed at the SNP government being handed even more control, given their astonishing record of failure.

"Weak Labour politicians seem incapable of understanding that they'll never pacify the SNP by constantly extending devolution."

Scottish Green local government spokesperson Kristopher Leask said: "This speech was big on rhetoric but short on policy, leaving people in Scotland with more questions than answers.

"Burnham is right that the UK is far too centralised, but this was clearly a speech aimed at the English regions, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland treated as an afterthought."