Understanding Andy Burnham's speech at the Labour Party Conference

Andy Burnham has delivered his first conference speech as Prime Minister, a major milestone setting out his strategic vision for the country and the policy direction of his government since he came into power. The speech was bold and punchy with plenty of pathos, peppered with significant political announcements.

So far as Prime Minister, Burnham has aggressively prioritised domestic, everyday issues including public transport, cost of living, and utilities. The speech continued this theme with announcements related to paving the way for greater public ownership of water, setting out his intentions to work on breaking up link between domestic prices and the international gas market, and naturally, a reminder of the £2 national bus cap.

However, there were also a few politically significant announcements that went broader than his traditional comfort zone as a PM so far. These include reducing the “triple lock” guarantee on the state pension (a commitment since 2010 that the state pension will go up each year in line with either inflation, wage increases or 2.5% - whichever is the highest) in 2030. Though this in itself will be irrelevant for our clients, this is a political “hot potato” which will likely draw intense media attention and scrutiny. What may also do the same were Burnham’s stark criticisms of Brexit and hints of rejoining the EU. With passionate views and voices on both of these issues, this could risk destabilising the so-called “Burnham bounce”.

How the technology sector might be affected 

Despite Burnham’s prioritisation of everyday domestic issues, his speech reflects a growing willingness to engage more with tech policy, particularly AI. Even before today, his recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly announced that AI would be at the heart of the upcoming G20 Summit in Manchester.

At conference, Burnham dedicated some time to explicitly mention tech and AI, in which he set out his desire for the UK to be a global leader in AI. This mainly refers to alignment and setting standards, and the upcoming G20 will provide a platform for the UK to lead on “global standards” for AI which will capture both “its risks and benefits”.

There were criticisms around screentime, with the government confirming during conference that the social media ban for under 16s would come into force by next March.

Otherwise, Burnham praised the start-ups and scale-ups of the country, and stated he wanted the UK to be a true “innovation nation”.

The impact on health and the NHS 

This “innovation nation” soundbite will also be music to the ears of health innovators, particularly those start-ups and scale-ups that Burnham wants to see flooding out of British universities.

The part of his speech dedicated to health was always going to be dominated by his earlier, radical commitment to building a National Care Service, but it was quite surprising how light the speech was on the NHS and local health devolution: two issues that have dominated fringe sessions at conference this year. Burnham was right to acknowledge that a struggling care system will only exacerbate the crisis within the health service, but beyond that and paying homage to NHS workers, his speech did not give anything away. With the NHS and the body overseeing it - NHS England - undergoing such profound change, this was surprising. What did feature, however, was a nod to public procurement reform and the “buy British” rhetoric we are hearing more and more in the health space.

This was a serious, and at times, emotional, first speech for Burnham, topping a conference that struck a different tone from last year’s. With Burnham still ruling out an early general election, the close of conference marks the start of a new period for this Labour Government. Over the next few weeks leading up to the Autumn budget on 28th October, we will likely see more colour added to some of these key pledges.