ANDY Burnham has rebuffed John Swinney’s prediction that he would be the “last” Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The Prime Minister said he was “determined” to prove Swinney wrong during his keynote speech at Labour conference in Liverpool.
Burnham appeared to hold back tears as he spoke of his late father's passing on the same day the First Minister made the prediction, which he acknowledged Swinney was unaware of.
He said he was not looking to “seek sympathy” or criticise Swinney, adding: “Anyway, my dad Roy would have been the first to defend his right to say it.
“I relay it because I want you to know how it made me feel.
“Utterly determined to prove him wrong.”
Swinney was among those to pay tributes to Burnham's father Roy after his death earlier this year.
Responding to the speech on social media, SNP MP Pete Wishart said: "Not entirely sure that dig at John Swinney was necessary. Particularly when in reference to the death of his dad."
In a speech lasting around an hour, the Prime Minister also announced Labour would campaign on an end to the pension triple lock at the next General Election, with the savings earmarked for investment in a proposed National Care Service.
If Labour can form a government after the next Westminster poll, which Burnham has said would come in 2029, they would cut the link to wages in the triple lock and pensions would rise in line with the higher of either prices or 2.5%.
Elsewhere, he said Labour would "vow to “change the electoral system” in their next manifesto, as he announced a new national commission to examine voting reforms.
He said: "I invite all political parties to be a part of its work.
“We will contest the next election with a manifesto commitment to change the electoral system so that everyone’s vote counts and everyone’s voice is heard.”
Burnham added: "We can’t succeed in the eyes of the world if we continue with the levels of political turbulence we have seen in recent times.
“It is always in my mind that I’m the seventh Prime Minister in 10 years – it is why I want to underpin our plan for Britain with a new politics.
“We will all have failed in our public duties if we carry on as we are and open the door of No 10 to a divisive government on less 30% of the vote or less – and we shouldn’t do that, conference.”
The Prime Minister's speech, his first to Labour conference as leader, focused overall on pitching a new "social contract" for the 21st century.
He said: "If we build a generation of council homes, we will save billions from the housing benefit budget over the decade. If we get energy bills down, we will better control inflation and support the economy. If we change the way we support people, we will get more people into work and the welfare bill down.
“Not through crude cuts. That should never be the Labour way, but by investing in people, in their success, supporting them to get where they want to be, rather than paying for failure, as the country does now.”
Burnham added: “We can’t afford to carry on like this. In 1945, we had the Beveridge Report. We need something similar now – new social contract for the 21st century.”
The Prime Minister also committed to finding consensus about what Britain's future relationship with the EU should look like.
Saying that Brexit had "done more harm than good" insisting that the UK would seek a way to work with the EU on immigration at an upcoming summit, Burnham added: "I will take the opportunity around the summit to lay out to you – to lay out to the country – what I believe the different options are for Britain’s long-term relationship with our European partners.
“And there are different options.
“And I will see if we can find consensus around one which will give us clarity about our position and the future of the continent that we live in.”
