The Black Country will not be overlooked under an Andy Burnham premiership, according to Labour's Minister for Skills, Jacqui Smith. During a visit to The Black Country Skills Shop at The Merry Hill Centre, Baroness Smith stated that the Prime Minister-in-waiting's devolution plans will not bypass the Midlands.
Devolution Blueprint for the North and Midlands
If unchallenged for the Labour leadership, former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham could become Prime Minister by mid-July. He has committed to establishing a 'Number Ten in the north' in Manchester to 'power up' the country. Baroness Smith reassured that this does not mean the North West will take priority over other regions.
She said: "I think the idea that not everything happens in London, which is what Andy has been talking about, is actually good for places like the West Midlands. We are able to devolve more ability for Richard Parker (West Midlands Mayor) to be able to, as he is doing at this skills shop here, support people back into work and with the sort of training they need."
Reassurance for the Midlands
The former Home Secretary dismissed suggestions that devolution would allow Labour to funnel resources into political heartlands. She emphasized: "Any Labour mayor knows that they serve all the people that cover the area that elected them. In the end we're not just here to win the next election, important though that is, we're also here to change the country in the time that we're in the elected positions that we're in."
Conservative Criticism
The Conservative Party dismissed Burnham's plans as 'old hat'. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: "Burnham's devolution agenda, unlike ours, is stripped of private enterprise and ownership. It is loaded with Labour's instincts: more public control, more regulation, more taxes, all of the very things which have caused the problems we have today. They will mean more power taken away from Parliament but more and more government created all over the country. More politicians, more outsourcing of decisions to bodies with even less scrutiny and accountability."
Local Support
Baroness Smith was in Dudley borough at the invitation of Stourbridge MP Cat Eccles, who believes a prime ministerial power base in Manchester will not harm West Midlands regeneration prospects. Ms Eccles said: "I think Andy's already done a fantastic job in the decade he was mayor in Manchester and that's a blueprint for the rest of the country. We've got Richard Parker as well who is already really keen on that devolution so I think having two people like that working together in the Midlands for our betterment is only going to be a good thing."
