PM offers Scotland more powers to move past 'old politics of conflict'

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he wanted to "move beyond the old politics of conflict" as he offered to work with the SNP to deepen devolution in Scotland.

Burnham used his first major speech north of the border since entering No 10 to offer an olive branch to John Swinney, saying he wanted to work together on giving more power to local communities.

Describing Scotland as "one of the most centralised nations in Europe", he said he wanted the country to benefit from the same opportunities offered by his drive to devolve more power to English regions.

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."

Speaking in Motherwell, he said he wanted to design a new model of "regional, economic empowerment" across Scotland, including an offer of devolution from the Department for Work & Pensions.

That would mean "localised employment support", similar to the one in England but shaped by the government in Holyrood and not necessarily based on the same mayoral model.

And he suggested such a deal could pave the way for further, "deeper" devolution, saying: "The English experience is it makes sense to put more transport powers in those places, put more housing powers in."

Speaking to journalists after the prime minister's speech, Scottish Economy Secretary Stephen Flynn said the first minister had sent a letter to the prime minister this week asking for greater powers for Holyrood, with employability powers number seven on the list.

"The SNP has been calling for these powers to be devolved to Scotland since the Smith Commission and, interestingly, the first minister sent a letter to the prime minister on Monday, where he outlined a number of points that he would like to see engagement on," Flynn said.

"This was number seven on that list, so we'll of course engage with the prime minister fully in respect of his announcement today."

But Burnham appeared to rule out the possibility of another independence referendum, saying politicians need to "move beyond the constitutional questions" and "focus on solutions for people right now".

He said: "Too much time is wasted on those dramas, it consumes too much energy.

"Get into things that can make a difference in people's lives now."

Ahead of Burnham's speech, Swinney told journalists he would "of course" take the prime minister up on his offer of co-operation.

He said he had a "track record" of "working to make sure as many powers as possible are exercised here in Scotland" and would "work constructively to make sure we bring all those powers to Scotland".

By Christopher McKeon, David Hughes, George Lithgow and Craig Paton, Press Association

source: PA

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