Andy Burnham will use his first Labour Party conference speech as prime minister to commit to action on social care and youth unemployment, as well as greater public control of energy, water and housing.
Burnham is due to tell Labour delegates in Liverpool that this means having an “honest conversation” with the public, stating that “hope comes from honesty and from saying the things politicians usually avoid”.
The prime minister is expected to argue that Britain is currently “run for vested interests, not in the public interest, with power held in too few hands”. He will call for “more control of the basics so that we can make it more functional again”.
He will say he is making a break with the “flawed thinking of the last 40 years”.
As part of his address, Burnham will announce a new publicly owned body, Great British Grid (GB Grid), which will sit within Great British Energy. The government says the body will speed up grid connections for businesses, support reindustrialisation, improve competition and drive down bills.
This announcement comes 36 years after the energy grid was privatised under Margaret Thatcher‘s government.
Labour says GB Grid will be funded from within GB Energy’s existing budgets.
Burnham will also set a new goal to bring energy costs down within 10 years to be in line with other European nations.
He is expected to say: “We have a cost crisis. We all know it. The price of energy is crippling for businesses, and British bill-payers pay some of the highest energy costs in Europe. We have an energy system where prices are dictated in markets miles away, while families and businesses here shoulder the costs. Once again, the British public has lost control.
“Within 10 years, I want our energy costs to be in line with other nations in Europe. That means we must reform a broken energy market so it serves the public interest.
“I can announce today our plan for Great British Grid, a publicly owned company that will work with the private sector and network companies. It will increase competition to drive down costs and speed up delivery so businesses can connect faster and grow quicker. This is what more public control can do.”
Further to this, the government will expand the rights of businesses to build connection infrastructure themselves, with GB Grid given the powers to support and co-invest. Pointing to Ireland, Labour says a similar strategy sped up connection times by 11 months.
Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said: “Great British Grid will help speed up connections, unlock investment and boost economies across our nation.
“Alongside GB Energy, this is another step towards mending the decades of Tory policies which ripped out public control from our energy systems.”
In his wider speech, Burnham will declare: “We can’t carry on as we are. Politics-as-usual has taken Britain backwards. More of the same isn’t good enough and isn’t going to get us where we need to be.”
The prime minister is expected to admit that he initially wanted to “give the usual tub-thumping conference speech”, but that “the patriot in me tells me something very different is needed”. He will say “everyone wants less drift and more direction”, vowing to “answer that call.”
Burnham plans to set out “a more serious prospectus for Britain than people have been offered in a generation”.
He is due to say: “I accept people will not agree with every part of it, but I believe it can turn Britain around.”
He will say he wants to build “a Britain where people feel the country has their back again”.
