‘A yearning for change’: Starmer and Brown set out their policy stall

Keir Starmer (right) and former prime minister Gordon Brown at the launch of their report on constitutional change and political reform at the University of Leeds on Monday 5 December. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer are boarding a packed train under a departures board flashing chronic delays and cancellations and only to find themselves in a carriage strewn with luggage and people in the aisles.

The current state of the connections between London, Leeds and Edinburgh are an apt backdrop to the launch of Brown’s constitutional review, the most detailed plans yet for a future Labour government to hand powers to devolved administrations and English regions.