DURING his last spell in Government, Andy Burnham spoke on a number of occasions about the need to work in partnership with the devolved governments.
But will he do so when he becomes prime minister in just a few weeks' time?
That’s the demand of parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – who are also calling for the devolution of a raft of powers for their parliaments.
Analysis by the Sunday National of Burnham’s contributions from his previous ministerial roles showed how the Makerfield MP sought to stress his collegiate relationship with the devolved governments.
But there are concerns that despite his “promises of a new approach”, the incoming prime minister will adopt the “muscular Unionism” of his predecessors.
Keith Brown, the SNP’s depute leader, said: “When it comes to working with Scotland, the proof will be in the pudding with Andy Burnham.”
He called on the Labour MP to give the Scottish Parliament control over the country’s “vast energy resources”, and Burnham is also facing demands from the Scottish Greens to scrap a controversial law which gives Westminster an effective veto over Holyrood legislation.
Brown said whether Burnham gave Scotland a second independence referendum and his willingness to devolve energy policy to Holyrood were the “key tests” of his commitment to devolution.
Elsewhere, the prime-minister-in-waiting is also under pressure from Plaid Cymru to give Wales control over policing and justice while Sinn Féin have demanded Burnham address what they describe as Northern Ireland’s chronic underfunding.
Brown added: “Holyrood has said quite categorically that our democratic future should lie with the Scottish people and that our vast energy resources should be controlled by the Scottish Parliament.
“If Andy Burnham’s words mean anything, then he will respect those two facts – these are the key tests of whether he is serious about where power lies on these islands.
“Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are led by governments that see a future beyond broken, Brexit Britain – if Andy Burnham wants a discussion about power and devolution then the direction of these governments raise a basic question he cannot ignore.”
Lorna Slater, a former Scottish Greens minister whose flagship recycling scheme was delayed by the contentious Internal Market Act, called for Burnham to bin the law as “an important step in winning trust”.
She said: “It will be a big breakthrough if Andy Burnham is prepared to work constructively with devolved governments and parliaments rather than against them like so many of his predecessors.
“Under the Tories, devolution faced open hostility and sabotage. Under Keir Starmer’s Labour, the attitude has too often been little better.
“Burnham’s experience in Manchester should have shown him the limits of Westminster’s centralising instincts. We hope he brings that understanding to his new role.
“So far, some of his rhetoric is encouraging. But that’s the easy part; the real test will be in the action he takes. Scotland is still denied the powers over tax, employment and energy that could transform people’s lives."
Claiming that Scots have had to “endure far too many policies and cuts that we did not vote for or support” and arguing that “many of Labour’s post-referendum promises have failed to materialise”, the Edinburgh Central MSP added: “At the same time the Internal Market Act has been used to undermine Scotland’s economic powers, repealing it would be an important step in winning trust.
“And the biggest test of all will be democracy. If he continues to block the Scottish Parliament’s mandate for an independence referendum, people will see that promises of a new approach amount to nothing.”
Liz Saville Roberts, the Westminster leader of Plaid Cymru, told the Sunday National Burnham must learn the lessons from Keir Starmer’s “muscular Unionism” approach if he wishes to arrest Labour’s decline in Wales.
The outgoing Prime Minister came in for criticism earlier this year when it was revealed that he had urged his Cabinet not to be “overly deferential” to their counterparts in the devolved administrations.
Saville Roberts said: “There is no doubt that Keir Starmer’s muscular unionism helped bring Labour’s 100-year dominance in Wales to an end. If Andy Burnham truly wants to deliver for the devolved nations, he must do things differently to his predecessor.”
She also skewered him over a major blunder last week where the incoming PM was revealed to have made a string of errors in an article he submitted to a Welsh news website.
The Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP said: “While Andy Burnham's first attempt at addressing the people of Wales was an ‘error-filled’ opinion piece in WalesOnline, in which he made promises on housing, education and transport, despite these being devolved responsibilities of the Welsh Government, it was encouraging that in his second attempt, he acknowledged that Wales has its own mandate, parliament and government, and pledged to respect Welsh devolution.
“The next step is turning that recognition into action. If a new Prime Minister is serious about strengthening devolution, that means delivering powers over policing, justice, rail and the Crown Estate to Wales, alongside a fairer funding settlement. Respect for devolution matters, but what Wales needs most is the power to shape its own future.”
Sinn Féin Finance Minister John O'Dowd said Burnham’s appointment as the UK’s seventh prime minister in the last decade “underscores the chaos of Westminster and how our future is better served by breaking our links with Britain”.
He said that constitutional change, in the form of a united Ireland was “the best reform to deliver for the people of Ireland”.
O’Dowd added: “As we work towards that, we remain fully committed to making power sharing work.
“However, the institutions are underfunded. Successive British governments have cut our public services and weakened our economy, leaving ordinary people struggling to make ends meet while a small elite grows ever wealthier.
"Sinn Féin stand ready to work constructively with the incoming British prime minister, but it is clear that a hugely different approach is needed.
"People here are not second-class citizens. They deserve proper and fair investment in our public services, real support through the cost of living crisis, and respect for our democratic right to decide our own future."
During his career as a minister, Burnham spoke about the need to consult with the devolved governments.
In a 2009 debate on disability benefits for the elderly, Burnham recognised that any changes to attendance allowance "would have implications for Scotland", adding: "Of course we would work with colleagues in Scotland, and with the first secretary, on making progress with any changes."
Elsewhere, in a statement to the House on gambling policy in 2008, Burnham told how he had "consulted Cabinet colleagues in the devolved administrations", adding: "I believe that we were right to listen to concerns."
Burnham’s team were approached for comment.
