Burnham offers Swinney co-operation on further devolution

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has travelled to Lanarkshire to urge First Minister John Swinney to collaborate on a sweeping plan to push powers away from both Westminster and Holyrood, while drawing a firm line against constitutional wrangling.

The BBC reports that the Prime Minister initiated the push during a weekend visit north of the border, arguing that governance in Scotland is among the most centralised in Europe. According to Morningstar Online, Burnham stated that regional re-wiring through No 10 North must include Scotland's cities and towns. The visit coincided with the SNP conference in Aberdeen, where party figures had invited Burnham to discuss a legal process for a second independence vote—an overture flatly rebuffed by Downing Street.

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Burnham maintained that devolution was never supposed to stop at the doors of the Scottish Parliament when Holyrood opened, insisting that leaders must move beyond constitutional debates to tackle practical pressures like the cost-of-living crisis.

Reaction from Scottish officialdom was mixed. Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander praised the initiative as a genuine offer, but launched a scathing critique of the Scottish Government's hoarding of power and grinding centralisation. That prompted a sharp counter-attack from John Swinney, who remarked that the Scottish Secretary doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. Nevertheless, Swinney confirmed he would "of course" take up the co-operation offer, noting it matched a priority list he had previously submitted.

Trade unions and external groups also weighed in on the proposals. Scottish Trades Union Congress general secretary Roz Foyer commended the move to bypass party political point-scoring, while arguing that Westminster should go further by devolving employment law and migration powers to tackle skills gaps, as reported by Morningstar Online. Meanwhile, UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed the regional devolution plan as jobs for the boys, arguing that attention should instead turn to licensing new oil and gas opportunities in the North Sea.

As the debate unfolds, attention turns to upcoming discussions between the Prime Minister and the heads of the devolved administrations scheduled for later in the month, where further frameworks for regional economic development and Department for Work and Pensions devolution are expected to be put on the table.