Andy Burnham has called for stronger state intervention in the economy to deliver what he calls “good growth,” lashing back at Tony Blair’s blueprint for Labour’s future direction.

The Greater Manchester mayor conceded areas of agreement with the three-time election winner — notably on the importance of economic growth— but accused Blair of a “gaping omission” in failing to address stagnant living standards since the 2008 financial crisis.

Burnham distanced himself from Blair’s approach on globalisation and “leaving things to the market” in an article for The Times while defending his record as mayor, with Manchester seeing higher growth than in other areas across the country. 

He also said a fall in welfare spending would require sweeping changes to the “flawed thinking on education”, citing an over-reliance on exam results over supporting routes to technical education. 

He also said that the government should overhaul government operations and rethink procurement “around the principle of place and maximum devolution of power out of the Whitehall silos into the regions and nations”.

One of his main criticisms centred on Westminster’s “point-scoring”. In a separate interview with The Observer, he doubled down on his backing for a proportional representation system to foster policy agreements between parties. 

He wrote in The Times: “Greater Manchester has pioneered this approach by being more pragmatic than political — answering one of Tony’s key concerns.

“We have built a pro-business approach and a new political culture that could be part of the forward plan for the country, a more collaborative politics in Westminster creating a stable platform for some of the long-term structural changes the country needs.”

Burnham vs Blair

It was reported that Blair had become frustrated with Burnham’s complaints that the UK had suffered from “40 years of neoliberalism” given his New Labour premiership lasted for a decade over the time period. 

Burnham doubled down on his criticism of the UK’s economic model in the article for The Times. 

“The Labour government in which I was proud to serve did many great things. It did not, however, take us off the direction set by Thatcher,” he wrote. 

“Acceptance of the deregulation and privatisation of essential services is the same for the cost of living crisis. This has given us 40 years of neoliberalism and the simple truth is this: it has not been kind to communities in Makerfield and those like them across the UK.”

His riposte to Blair’s scathing assessment of the Labour government and potential leadership candidates’ fixes for the UK was widely anticipated over Wednesday. 

Burnham initially hit out at Blair’s written piece – which criticised Labour’s welfare spending, North Sea oil policy and response to stopping small boats – for failing to mention inequality. 

Sir Keir Starmer told broadcasters on Thursday that he did not agree with Blair’s assessment, adding he had been “vindicated” by results of policies.