Andy Burnham offers Scottish regions more powers in first visit as PM
Andy Burnham made his first visit to Scotland as PM, offering devolved employment support to local areas and ruling out an independence referendum while the SNP met in Aberdeen.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham made his first visit to Scotland since taking office, using a speech at a college in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, to offer the SNP government cooperation on devolving more power to Scottish regions and local communities. The speech was delivered on the site of the former Ravenscraig steelworks and came as the SNP held its party conference in Aberdeen.
Burnham said he had not come to score political points but to make a serious and genuine offer. He said Scotland was the most devolved nation in the UK but one of the most centralised in Europe, and argued that too much power was hoarded in Edinburgh. He wants to push power out of both Westminster and Holyrood. His main offer was DWP devolution: a model of localised employment support for Scotland, similar to England but shaped by Holyrood, aimed at helping young people not in employment, education or training into jobs. He also said a new model of regional economic empowerment would be designed with the Scottish Government. He stressed 'place first, not party first' and said he wanted to move on from the old politics of conflict.
He cited Greater Manchester and Easterhouse, saying his experience as mayor had shaped his view. He said he wanted to rewire the state so every postcode, including every postcode in Scotland, could do more for itself. He also noted his personal and political ties to Scotland, mentioning the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, visits to Scotland and Scottish football.
The SNP, holding its conference in Aberdeen, responded cautiously. First Minister John Swinney had previously said Burnham could be the last Prime Minister of the UK. SNP minister Stephen Flynn welcomed the devolution of employment support powers, noting the Scottish Government had sent a list of desired powers to Number 10 on Monday and that employment support was number seven. But he and others said independence remained the party's priority. Burnham was asked about a second referendum and said his view would not be changing, while saying he wanted to move forward. A Downing Street source later said he had ruled out a Scottish referendum for the remainder of his time as Prime Minister.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch was also in Scotland, visiting a haulage firm near Glasgow to campaign against fuel tax rises. She dismissed the devolution debate as navel-gazing and said Holyrood and councils already had the powers they needed. Her visit, like Burnham's, came during the SNP conference.
Burnham is due to meet the leaders of the UK's devolved governments later this month at the National Economic Council, where further devolution will be discussed. He gave no decision on whether the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields would be approved, saying only that an announcement would come shortly.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported by a few · 2–4 channels | ||||||
| Andy Burnham is making his first visit to Scotland as Prime Minister, coinciding with the SNP conference, and is expected to discuss devolution and local government reform while calling for Scottish councils to receive more powers. | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by Channel 4 | ||||
| Independence remained a central theme at the SNP conference, where SNP figures continued to press for it, and the SNP and Scottish government were reported to be pleased that Andy Burnham did not announce a second independence referendum. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by Channel 4 | Reported by ITV | Reported by Sky News | |
| Burnham said he wanted to move power from Downing Street to local people. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News | ||
| Kemi Badenoch was also in Scotland and argued that further devolution or constitutional change was not necessary because existing powers were sufficient. | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | ||
| Only on one channel | ||||||
| Andy Burnham and Kemi Badenoch were both in Scotland for visits. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Burnham said he came to Scotland with a major offer and to seek common ground. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Burnham said he left Westminster in 2017 to become Mayor of Greater Manchester and drew on that experience. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Downing Street said Burnham ruled out a Scottish referendum during the rest of his premiership. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News | |
| John Swinney pledged to work with the Prime Minister if it meant more powers for Scotland. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Kemi Badenoch called for new licensing of North Sea oil and gas. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Kemi Badenoch called on Labour to axe fuel tax rises. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| The Scottish government welcomed the devolution of employment support powers and said it had submitted a list of powers to Number 10, with employment support powers at number seven. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky framed the visit as a calculated move during the SNP conference, with political correspondent analysis and a later speech report. It highlighted the DWP devolution offer and polling that showed Burnham more popular in Scotland than John Swinney.
- “Andy Burnham is going to be making his first visit to Scotland as Prime Minister today where he is expected to discuss devolution and local government reform.”
- “An offer of DWP devolution. I want to offer Scotland a model of localised employment support.”
- “He enjoys a net favourability rating according to the latest poll of plus nine. John Swinney for example by contrast is minus 19.”
BBC NEWS carried a long, largely uninterrupted extract of Andy Burnham's Motherwell speech, focusing on his personal case for devolution and local empowerment. It gave little reporter framing and no SNP conference reaction in the excerpt.
- “I am coming today with a big offer and in search of common ground.”
- “I was determined to push power out of it and into the hands of local people.”
- “When I say I want good growth in every postcode, that means every single postcode in Scotland as well.”
BBC ONE West combined report and analysis, using BBC Scotland's political editor to explain the offer and a correspondent at the SNP conference to give reaction. It stressed that the devolution detail was thin and that SNP independence demands would continue.
- “The Prime Minister is in Scotland this lunchtime to argue that more powers should be devolved away from the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood and given instead to local communities, cities and regions.”
- “We don't have much by way of detail, but Andy Burnham did suggest he might be prepared to give some employment support powers to Scottish regions if John Swinney is also prepared to look at devolving power in areas like transport.”
- “They are saying that on Monday they submitted a list of powers to be devolved to Scotland to number 10 and that was number seven on their list.”
ITV1 paired Burnham's devolution offer with Kemi Badenoch's rival visit and SNP conference politics. Its reporting stressed the offer was aimed at councils rather than Holyrood, and that it fell short of a second independence referendum.
- “Andy Burnham and Kemi Badenoch are both in Scotland this lunchtime amid new calls for independence.”
- “When I say I want good growth in every postcode, that means every single postcode in Scotland as well.”
- “This naval gazing about holy root powers and constitutional settlements and should we have another referendum and should we have more councils, they all have the powers that they need.”
5 News tied the Scotland visits to recent pictures of the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland meeting on independence. It focused on the first-visit framing, Badenoch's fuel tax attack and her dismissal of more devolution.
- “This was Andy Burnham's first major visit to Scotland since becoming PM and his first since he was warned that he could be the last Prime Minister of the UK by Scotland's first minister.”
- “When I say I want good growth in every postcode, that means every single postcode in Scotland as well.”
- “I think that this is, yet again, a waste of time discussion.”
Channel 4 gave a detailed set-piece report, framing the speech as an olive branch to the SNP that clashed with its Aberdeen conference. It pressed the independence question and included a Downing Street source ruling out a referendum.
- “Andy Burnham has offered to work with the Scottish National Party to deepen devolution in Scotland.”
- “It was his first major speech in Scotland since becoming Prime Minister and it came smack in the middle of the SNP conference.”
- “A Downing Street source later said Mr Burnham had ruled out a Scottish referendum for the remainder of his time as prime minister.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.