ANGELA Rayner has outlined plans for a “devolution revolution” as she pledged to end “northerners being dictated to by Whitehall”.
In a speech to Labour conference, the party’s deputy leader said the last Labour Government “created the London Mayor, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly”.
She added: “We will seize this moment and finally complete that irreversible shift in opportunity, power and wealth across our whole country.”
It is, as of yet, unclear to what extent Rayner’s so-called “devolution revolution” will apply to Scotland.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie previously said during the General Election campaign that a new Labour government would be open to talks with ministers in Edinburgh about a "Scottish visa" which would give limited immigration powers to Holyrood.
But when asked just two days after Labour won in a landslide, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar poured cold water over the idea.
Sarwar said on July 7 that Labour is going to reset the devolution relationship after gaining power in Westminster, and aim to work collaboratively with the Scottish government.
In her conference speech, Rayner mentioned that Labour mayors are “proof” the party can deliver change and appeared to place the focus of the plans on northern England.
“Buses under local control in Greater Manchester, £2 fares in West Yorkshire, Oxford Street regeneration in London, publicly-owned battery trains in Liverpool and opportunities for unemployed young people in the West Midlands,” she said.
“Labour mayors have shown what is possible when Labour is in power and that’s why I am giving mayors more powers over house building and planning, as well as transport and skills.
“A new White Paper will map out how we will move power out of Whitehall.”
The Deputy Prime Minister concluded her speech talking about her previous job in care and with a call to action for the conference.
She said: “Retired professors, teachers, nurses, police officers, they needed my care in the last years and days of their life, care that they deserved. Care that was my honour to provide.
“I find myself once again with an opportunity to serve those people who never gave up on me. On the fourth of July, the people entrusted us with the task of change and hope won. Now is our moment, not just to say, but to do.
“Labour governments of the past took on this same challenge at a time when Britain desperately needed change. They deserved a better Britain, when the odds were stacked against them, and that’s exactly what this Labour government must deliver once again, so, conference, let’s go.”
