1. A new National Care Service

Andy Burnham promised that Labour will establish a National Care Service in the next parliament, providing free personal care for older people. It will be founded on the same principles as the NHS, where everyone contributes and everyone is covered. Adjusting the pensions triple lock from April 2030 will help fund it. 

2. Greater public control of water

Labour will remove the Thatcher-era ban on government ownership of water companies.

As part of Andy Burnham’s determination to deliver public control of the essentials of life, Labour will scrap ideological barriers to a water system that works for the public, introduce new powers for Mayors to hold water companies to account and tighten the ban on executive bonuses. 

3. Greater public control of housing

Everything starts with a good home. Andy Burnham announced that Labour will increase public control of housing to ensure it serves and supports those who need it most.  

Labour will back councils with the powers and resources necessary to call time on rogue landlords and compulsory purchase properties that fall below acceptable standards, including where landlords have refused to make improvements. Not only will this directly improve the condition of long-neglected properties, it will bring more homes into council ownership. 

Labour will also strengthen council powers to take over empty homes and rent them out cheaply to families.   And Labour will complete reform of Right to Buy, to ensure it doesn’t come at the expense of the public housing stock. 

4. Greater public control of energy 

We have an energy cost crisis. The price of energy is crippling for businesses, and British billpayers 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. 

That’s why Andy Burnham wants to bring down energy costs by introducing greater public control in the system. He is setting a new ambition to reduce energy costs so that they are in line with other countries in Europe within ten years. 

 Labour will introduce a new publicly owned body within Great British Energy – Great British Grid (GB Grid) – to help improve competition, speed up grid connections for businesses, support reindustrialisation and drive down bills.  

5. Europe

As Andy Burnham said in his speech, Brexit hasn’t given us control. We’ve lost some of the control we had over our economy, after a decade of low growth. And we’ve lost some of our control over immigration.

The UK will hold a summit this year with the EU,  to strike important deals that will boost our economy, cut red tape, help our businesses grow and provide opportunities to young people denied since Brexit.  

Andy Burnham believes that should be the floor not the ceiling of our ambition. And later this year, he will say more about what he thinks is the right path ahead for Britain and the EU, to strengthen our prosperity and security.  

6. Electoral reform

Andy Burnham announced that Labour will launch a National Commission on Electoral Reform so our voting system can better give power to people in every postcode. 

The current system leaves too many people out and means some people’s votes in some places matter more than others. 

If we are going to rewire Britain so that power flows properly throughout,, we have to move to a situation where every vote counts towards the make-up of our Parliament. 

The Prime Minister, like most people in the country, wants a politics that is more about solving problems and less about scoring points. 

All political parties will be invited to take part. Community groups, trade unions, businesses, faith groups, and voters of all parties and none will also have the chance to participate. The commission will report before the next general election. 

Join the Labour Party

Start your application