This is right. Local government needs stronger powers to buy homes to rebuild the council housing stock.   This needn't just apply to empty homes, former social homes should be bought back too.   www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/andy-burnham-housing-empty-buy-37449776

Big Issue founder urges Burnham to boost council powers to buy-up empty homes

EXCLUSIVE: The call from Big Issue founder Lord John Bird comes as more than one million families languish on waiting lists and record levels of children are forced to live in temporary accommodation

mirror.co.uk

“We need to make sure we are not using Public Financial Institutions (PuFins) as a complicated workaround if what we ultimately need is more direct public investment into key infrastructure.” Our Director @mathewlawrence.bsky.social quoted in @financialtimes.com 👇 www.ft.com/content/f2a1...

What are PuFins and how do Andy Burnham and John Healey plan to use them?

State-owned institutions are aimed at spurring private-sector activity, and mayors want them to work more flexibly

ft.com

“It should not escape the Treasury’s attention that military spending is one of the worst forms of public investment for jobs and growth. Military largesse is an extremely damaging economic strategy.” Khem Rogaly quoted in @declassifieduk.org 👇 www.declassifieduk.org/chancellor_w...

Chancellor wants military officer with him at Treasury

John Healey’s request has sparked fears about the military having too much influence over UK finances

declassifieduk.org

“In April of [2026], over 90% of those who reported an increase in their cost of living cited food being more expensive ... long-term trends are putting upward pressure on prices that cannot be left unchecked.” 🖊️ Eleanor Shearer for @politicshome.bsky.social 👇 www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

If Burnham is serious about the cost of living, he must act boldly on food prices

Andy Burnham has promised “a cost of living government” as he enters office. Along with energy bills, rising food prices are one of the main ways h...

politicshome.com

The best way to eliminate profiteering in the social care system is to remove for-profit providers from the sector. The right for a company to make a profit should not be on equal footing with the right to quality care. (1/3)

Sky News@news.sky.com · last wk.

Andy Burnham blames his generation of politicians for failures on social care reform

“[Public] ownership is important because it enables profits to be returned to the government ... and then a choice can be made about how to spend them in the public interest. ” @mathewlawrence.bsky.social quoted in @nytimes.com 👇 www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/b...

Public Control or ‘20th-Century Socialism’? U.K. Debates a Different Way.

nytimes.com

“Whether it’s sewage in rivers, exploding energy bills, rail fares or social care, the essential economy on which we rely has been damaged by [privatisation].” @mathewlawrence.bsky.social speaks to Sean Waters for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social 👇 tribunemag.co.uk/2026/07/the-...

The Economics of Freedom

Tribune’s Sean Waters speaks to Mathew Lawrence about the structural crisis of the British economy, the philosophy of the Productive State, and the prospects for the Burnham government.

tribunemag.co.uk

“[Public ownership] isn’t just ideological ... there are rational economic reasons ... the ideological people now are those who are committed to a status quo which is clearly and manifestly not working.” @mathewlawrence.bsky.social on @lbc.co.uk 👇

“Essential services ... that were privatised are no longer working ... there’s a different way of organising it ... it’s not going back to the 1970s, it’s saying that a modern, dynamic economy has to fix those essentials.” @mathewlawrence.bsky.social on @lbc.co.uk 👇

This is a positive first step for now. It establishes electricity as one of the essentials worthy of VAT exemption and boosts electrification at the expense of gas. Good for the cost of living, good for climate. (1/3)

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 2w ago

Burnham to remove VAT on household electricity bills ft.trib.al/2r7uTTR

“The thing that ties Mamdani and Burnham together is a focus on how you make life more affordable and dignified for households that are relentlessly squeezed.” @mathewlawrence.bsky.social quoted in @newyorker.com 👇 www.newyorker.com/news/the-fin...

Can Andy Burnham’s Manchesterism Save the U.K.’s Center Left?

With a populist touch, and a focus on affordability and raising up left-behind communities, Britain’s new Prime Minister has drawn comparisons to Zohran Mamdani.

newyorker.com

“Tomorrow, the really big thing is the size, the ambition, the nature of this cost of living package ... does it actually do what it says on the tin? ... Will it provide actual relief on core essentials?” Our Director @mathewlawrence.bsky.social on @bbc5live.bsky.social 👇

“The first step is putting more money back into people’s pockets, ending this relentless squeeze people are facing ... but we need bigger structural reform.” @mathewlawrence.bsky.social on @thetimes.com Radio 👇

In our four-part series, CONTINENTAL SHIFT, @adriennebuller.bsky.social @uselessbouchi.bsky.social and guests explore the politics of critical minerals, the remaking of global supply chains, and how we can rectify the long-standing harms of extraction going forward. Episode 2 now live ⬇️

Adrienne Buller@adriennebuller.bsky.social · 3w ago

Weekend listening: Ep 2 of CONTINENTAL SHIFT features @triofrancos.bsky.social and Emily Iona-Stewart of @globalwitness.org in an incredibly insightful conversation on the politics of critical minerals—why the 'rush', who it serves, and where next www.break-down.org/episode-2-a-...

“There was this deregulated, fragmented, bus service, prices spiralled, services declined, & it [was brought] back into public control, not ownership ... fares fell 15%, ridership expand, quality improved.” @mathewlawrence.bsky.social in @the-independent.com 👇 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Andy Burnham will be the next PM – here’s what that could mean for Britain

‘Manchesterism’ underpins the veteran politician’s plan for Britain. Here’s what Burnham says he would do as PM

independent.co.uk

“People ... are paying too much for too little and the productive potential of the economy is constrained by an architecture of ownership that is not working in the interests of ordinary communities.” @georgeeaton.bsky.social interviewed @mathewlawrence.bsky.social 👇 www.arguably.uk/p/can-andy-b...

Can Andy Burnham reverse Thatcherism?

Mathew Lawrence on what a new era of public ownership would look like

arguably.uk

🚨 In January, @yougov.co.uk polling found that more than 4 in 10 people (44%) said they struggled to pay for food in the past 3 months. Food prices are now 38% higher than in 2020 — outpacing overall inflation (31%). This is a crisis, and it’s not going away. 🧵

Must read!

Common Wealth@cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 3w ago

Global decarbonization is a necessity to secure a safe & livable future. Supporting global green development is central to decarbonization. The structure of the global economy & financial system poses a problem. Here’s what we can do about it. 🧵 www.common-wealth.org/publications...

Global decarbonization is a necessity to secure a safe & livable future. Supporting global green development is central to decarbonization. The structure of the global economy & financial system poses a problem. Here’s what we can do about it. 🧵 www.common-wealth.org/publications...

Beyond The Climate Finance Gap: The Global Financial System, Decarbonization, and the Failure of the Wall Street Consensus

common-wealth.org

Today we launch a special collaborative briefing with Forces of Production, introducing an approach to policy — The Productive State — governing the supply side. 🧵 🖊️ @atwilliams.bsky.social @brusselermel.bsky.social www.common-wealth.org/publications...

The Productive State: On Governing the Supply Side

To produce a better life for all, policymakers will need to take a Productive State approach to governing the supply side.

common-wealth.org

“What began as a policy for Manchester buses should become the template for housing and care, such that the basic conditions of social life can no longer be treated as an asset class.” The Productive State in @lrb.co.uk 👇 www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

William Davies · Burnham’s Political Economy

Whatever rash remarks he may have made about the bond markets or spending commitments, Andy Burnham understands...

lrb.co.uk

“Britain’s shortfall in productive investment in essential sectors is structural ... the binding constraint is not planning, regulation or savings supply but the cost of capital under private ownership.” The Productive State featured in The New Statesman 👇 www.newstatesman.com/business/eco...

You can't blame Brexit anymore

Our economy was broken long before the referendum

newstatesman.com

“Policy costs paid for by bills — a regressive way of paying for it — taken into general taxation ... is quite a compelling avenue to reduce bills at source and to pay for them more progressively.” @mathewlawrence.bsky.social quoted in @politico.com 👇 www.politico.eu/article/burn...

Burnham wants to bring Britain hope. First, he needs to cut energy bills.

The Makerfield MP and likely next prime minister will inherit high energy costs, a drag on both economic growth and Labour’s political support.

politico.eu

“Levies used to pay for clean energy projects and help for the poorest consumers, [c]ould be moved into taxation instead ... ‘a more progressive way of paying for it.’” @mathewlawrence.bsky.social quoted in @politico.com 👇 www.politico.eu/article/keir...

Starmer’s worst welcome gifts for Burnham — rated

From a defense spending black hole to the promise of a teen social media ban — Keir Starmer leaves Andy Burnham with some massive headaches.

politico.eu

“The findings cast doubt on claims by Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, that they are boosting British jobs by reallocating large chunks of government spending to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).” Our new analysis in @theguardian.com 👇 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Infrastructure cuts to pay for defence will cost UK 10,000 jobs, analysis shows

Exclusive: Findings cast doubt on Starmer claims that reallocation of funds to MoD will boost British jobs

theguardian.com

“Unless it reverses course, the Government has prioritised the budget of a Ministry of Defence that loses billions each year to waste, fraud, mismanagement and global power projection over the needs of the public.” Read our new briefing in full 👇 www.transitionsecurity.org/buying-the-dip

Buying the Dip: The Defence Investment Plan Will Lead to Domestic Unemployment

The “defence dividend” promised by the UK Government will not materialise.

transitionsecurity.org

The expansive spending pathway taken by government to meet the NATO target more than doubles the military budget by the 2035/36 financial year, costing £279.3bn more than if military spending were kept at the current share of GDP.

Cuts used to fund the £15 billion in additional military spending in the Defence Investment Plan will lead to around 10,000 net jobs lost in the UK.

🚨 NEW: Our new analysis has found that the funding settlement issued with the Defence Investment Plan will lead to a net loss in jobs in the UK. 📑 Buying the Dip: The Defence Investment Plan Will Produce Domestic Unemployment Our key findings 🧵👇

“Spending cuts to fund defence plans ‘will cost 10,000 UK jobs’” Our new analysis on the front page of @theguardian.com today 👇