Burnham: Let's go back to the 1970s

Plus: Save the brick, and James Watt brews a comeback

Jun 29, 2026

Man of the people Andy Burnham has promised to make ‘place-based collaboration the new operating principle for UK plc’. In human terms, that means more devolution, despite its distinctly mixed record.

Soaring rhetoric aside, the Prime Minister in waiting set out a vision that also included a new ‘Number 10 North’ based in Manchester and a wistful fondness for the economy of the 1970s – including, ominously, ‘public intervention where necessary’.

Elsewhere, Kemi Badenoch made a speech that talked a lot more sense about the economy, and a former aide of Rishi Sunak pleaded guilty to betting on the date of the 2024 election based on insider knowledge.

Much more on the Burnham ascendancy in today’s email, including the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary on how Labour is making life harder for Britain’s army of NEETs, and Ben Houchen on why being a mayor doesn’t prepare you for running the country.

Below you’ll find all the latest pieces from CapX, plus what we’re reading from around the web.

Marc Sidwell
Editor, CapX

Today’s Takes

Fresh thinking from CapX

Is Burnham just Blair in a T-shirt?

Eliot Wilson

‘This was followed by crowd-pleasing visions of an emptiness which reminded anyone listening that Burnham had risen during the high days of Blairism.’

Today, Andy Burnham promised ‘the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen’. It would certainly be a positive step to make local authorities more accountable and less tied to London. But hidden among the thickets of bland, empty, motivational slogans, two elements of his ‘vision thing’ should cause prickles of concern. Read More

Labour must face the truth on youth unemployment

Helen Whately

‘Businesses need confidence that if they take on another employee, open a new site or enter a new market, government will not immediately make that decision harder or more expensive.’

Our soon-to-be Prime Minister says he is taking Alan Milburn’s review of youth unemployment extremely seriously. If that’s true, he must reckon with one of its most important findings. The cost of employment – which Labour keep increasing with tax rises and fresh red tape – is standing in the way of businesses hiring young people. Read More

James Watt’s return is good for British beer

Jimmy Nicholls

‘Watt is the kind of entrepreneur that the British love to hate: arrogant, self-assured and a little reckless.’

Earlier this year, the ex-fisherman turned punk entrepreneur James Watt faced a mutiny aboard the business he had founded and led for 17 years. BrewDog was sold to Tilray Brands for just £33 million. Now he’s back with a new venture, Second Best – just when British beer needs its risk-takers back. Read More

Stat of the day

The CapX Reading List

The best of the web today

What mayors don't know about power

Ben Houchen, The Telegraph 🔒

‘Andy Burnham has governed, for nearly a decade, in a role that is built to shield you from the hardest decisions in public life.’

Our incoming Prime Minister has been adored in Greater Manchester in a way that almost no politician in modern British life has been adored anywhere. The approval ratings, the warmth across the area, the sense that here, finally, is a politician who genuinely connects. It is all real, but it’s also a problem. Read More

Save the brick!

Create Streets

‘Everyone loves bricks apart from the Net Zero standards.’

Brick is Britain’s favourite building material – but sustainability rules risk imposing a de facto ban by assuming it only lasts 60 years. That ignores brick’s real advantage: buildings that can be repaired, adapted and loved for centuries. Policymakers should fix the rules, not punish longevity. Read More