Speaking on a visit to a college built on the site of the former Ravenscraig steel works, the Prime Minister said devolution was “never meant to end at the doors of Holyood”.
Andy Burnham and Douglas Alexander visited the Motherwell campus of New College Lanarkshire
Andy Burnham used a visit to Scotland today to declare he wants “to move beyond constitutional questions” and “focus on solutions for people right now”.
In a landmark speech in Motherwell, the Prime Minister said he wanted to foster a new spirit of cooperation between Westminster and Holyrood that could see powers devolved from both governments and back into local communities.
But he ruled out a second referendum on independence – and said “my view won’t be changing” when pressed on the issue by the Record.
He also hinted a decision on whether to approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas developments off the coast of Scotland will be made “shortly”.
In his first major intervention in Scottish politics since entering Downing Street in July, Burnham said he was making a “serious and genuine offer” to John Swinney’s SNP Government to work together on devolving power.
Speaking at a college built on the site of the former Ravenscraig steel works, Burnham said of Swinney: “We won’t agree on everything, and we’re not going to.
“But that does not mean, just because you can’t agree on everything, it doesn’t mean you can’t agree on anything.
He added: “I want to make a serious and genuine offer to the Scottish Government. I want to move on from the old politics of conflict.”
Burnham said he wanted to design a new model of “regional economic empowerment” across Scotland, including an offer of devolution from the Department for Work and Pensions.
That would mean “localised employment support”, similar to the one in England but shaped by the Government in Holyrood.
He said: “I want to make a serious and genuine offer to the Scottish Government. I want to move on from the old politics of conflict.”
Burnham said he wanted to work to deliver “deeper” devolution in Scotland – describing the current Holyrood set-up as “one of the most centralised nations in Europe”.
And the Labour leader said devolution “was never supposed to stop at the doors of the Scottish Parliament”.
He continued: “It was always meant to be the start of something deeper, the foundations of a nation where communities had more of a say in their own future, and where the norm was always to push power out until it reached every person and every postcode.
“Instead, we’ve ended up with a situation where Scotland, the most devolved nation in the UK, is itself one of the most centralised nations in Europe.
“And I don’t say that to score points, genuinely I don’t. I say that because I believe we need to be honest about that if we really want to get growth in every postcode.”
Referring to his drive to increase devolution for English regions, he added: “I want those same opportunities for Scotland and Scottish regions; the chance to stop looking back at what was once here and start looking forward to what’s coming next.”
Asked by the Record whether he would rule out a second Scottish independence referendum during his premiership, Burnham did not directly respond – but said he had set out his views on the issue “very clearly” to the First Minister.
The Prime Minister said: “I think unions of countries are better because you can face a challenging world in a more confident and stronger way, in my view, when you collaborate and you work together.”
He said he had communicated his view to Swinney, and added: “He has a different view, but let’s accept there’s a different view there and then work on together what we can agree on.
“My view won’t be changing, but let’s now move forward where we can make some progress.”
A Downing Street source later confirmed Burnham was ruling out an IndyRef2 taking place during the time of his premiership.
Asked whether devolving power more locally in Scotland would make independence more or less likely, the Prime Minister said: “I just feel we all have to move beyond the constitutional questions.
“In my view, people in Scotland are suffering from the cost of living crisis, like they are in England and everywhere else, and I think our job is to focus on the practicalities, to focus on solutions for people right now.
“As I said at the end, too much time is wasted on those dramas, it consumes too much energy.
“Get into the things that can make a difference in people’s lives now, get doing the things that can take young people off benefits in their 20s and give them an opportunity now, we can do it.
“And do things to help people with the cost of living now, putting buses under public control in Glasgow or elsewhere. We can do it now and help people.”
Speaking at the SNP conference in Aberdeen, the First Minister said: “I’ve got a track record throughout my political life of working to make sure as many powers as possible are exercised here in Scotland.”
Reacting to Burnham’s speech, SNP MSP Stephen Flynn said: “What I just listened to was the Prime Minister be asked whether he would rule out an independence referendum and he declined to do so.
“I firmly believe he declined to do so because he’s a reasonable man who recognises his own hypocrisy if he was to continue along the lines of saying that there can and should be a debate about a second referendum on membership of the European Union, while seeking to deny one to the Scottish people in respect of our future.”
Russell Findlay, the Scottish Conservatives leader, said: “On his rare visit to Scotland, Andy Burnham should have been giving the green light to new drilling.
“But instead he was droning on about abstract political structures and procedures.
“Burnham has again opened the door for John Swinney to demand another divisive referendum.”
