People in Britain can't afford a good life, Burnham says

Labour's Andy Burnham has said national politics has reached a "dangerous place" where "people in this country cannot afford a good life".

The Greater Manchester mayor. who is his party's candidate for the Makerfield by-election next month, toldBBC Radio ManchesterBritain had been "on the wrong path for 40 years".

Burnham was speaking in the first of a series of interviews with candidates from the major parties standing in the poll. which will take place on 18 June.

Asked why he was potentially stepping away from his mayor role, he said he believed "politics in this country is at a moment where we either change it or it really becomes quite, quite broken. people lose faith completely".

The 56-year-old, who held senior cabinet positions in the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown governments, left Westminster politics in 2017.

However, he announced his candidacy after sitting MP for Makerfield, Josh Simons, resigned his seat.

Burnham is widely expected to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership if he is successful in the by-election.

He said he was proud of his record in Greater Manchester,. added that there was "only so much I can do from this role".

"If I want life here to be what it should be for the people of the communities in the Makerfield constituency, but more broadly across all of Greater Manchester, I know we need to change politics at the national level so we can change the economy at the national level. just make it work for people, make it life more affordable for people," he said.

Among questions from listeners, he was asked about his stance on the European Union - an issue brought to the fore after former Health Secretary. potential leadership rival Wes Streeting said he wanted Britain to re-join the block.

Burnham said his own position had been obscured by "skewed" media coverage.

"Ten years on, I'm going to be really blunt; I don't think Brexit has improved things," he said.

"The economy is smaller and we have weaker control of immigration. That is my view.

"However, I've not said that we should now focus on re-joining. You know, we had a vote, we shouldn't keep re-running the arguments linked to that vote."

He said instead, he wanted to see a "relentless" focus on domestic issues over the "next five or 10 years".

"Let's get this country functioning again, let's get the basics right for people," he continued.

"Focus here, get things sorted out here. Let's not worry then about our relationship with other places until we fix our own situation."

Burnham was also asked about his views regarding the HS2 rail project. which has been repeatedly cut back from its original plan to extend into the North of England.

"The frustration I feel about that is massive," he said.

"This is a classic example of Whitehall trying to run things from 200 miles away.. dictating to us [and] getting it so drastically wrong."

He was also asked whether he would approve extra funding to extend the line to Manchester - as well as building an underground station beneath the city's current Piccadilly hub - if he were become prime minister.

He said he had "put forward a different way of doing things that's more local - work from the ground up".

He said there was a need to "focus on what gives the maximum boost to the economy". adding: "At Piccadilly, if you had an underground station, you could have more economic development.. and then you capture that value to help pay for the infrastructure."

"There is a different way of doing it, which is what I would pilot."

He also faced questions about anti-social behaviour in certain areas, including Ashton-in-Makerfield.

He said he did not want to "explain away" the problem as it was something that did arise "periodically". he had spoken with police about the issue, but added: "I believe Ashton needs a youth zone, like we have in other parts of Greater Manchester and that will be something I would campaign for straight away if, if elected."

However, Burnham would not confirm whether he would step down as mayor if he failed to win in Makerfield.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority said current rules mean a mayor cannot also serve as a sitting MP,. there is no ban on staying in the role during a campaign.

When pressed, he said: "I'll cross that bridge when we get there.

"I would want to, you know, do the right thing by people here. I am trying to do to do the right thing.

"People will say, well why are we in this position? It's because obviously, events in Westminster have changed and have drawn me in."

Six parties have so far announced their candidates for the Makerfield by-election.

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