90 Labour MPs Tell Burnham to Run Industrial Policy From Manchester

More than 90 Labour backbench MPs have issued a briefing paper urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to centralize the UK’s industrial strategy in Manchester. The group argues that the government’s pledge to reindustrialize the country will fail unless it is driven decisively from No 10 North, the prime minister’s new outpost established in July. The paper warns that decades of deregulation have left the state without the detailed knowledge of industry required to execute such a plan effectively.

The MPs are calling for the passage of a Reindustrialisation Act. This legislation would set specific targets for creating jobs by rebuilding manufacturing capacity and hold ministers accountable for meeting them. The group contends that without a statutory framework and clear planning, the government cannot achieve the industrial revival promised by Chancellor John Healey, who is scheduled to deliver his first budget on Wednesday.

The paper proposes that First Secretary Louise Haigh take direct responsibility for overseeing the effort, with the operation based at No 10 North. It further recommends transforming the National Wealth Fund into a Reindustrialisation Development Corporation. This new entity would focus primarily on providing capital to rebuild UK industry, shifting away from its current role as an arm’s-length investment body for promising businesses.

Andy MacNae, the MP for Rossendale and Darwen and chair of the group, said he doubted the commitment of Burnham or Healey but identified a structural problem. He described a kind of inertia within the civil service and economic orthodoxy that assumes growth policy should focus on cities already doing well. MacNae argued that reindustrialisation must instead deliver jobs to places that need them most and produce goods that provide national resilience. He pointed to the recent nationalisation of British Steel as an example of the breadth of policy areas involved.

Steve Yemm, MP for Mansfield, noted that countries globally are reindustrialising while many in Whitehall still view industrial policy as dangerous nostalgia. He called for the prime minister’s full backing to challenge those assumptions. Lorraine Beavers, MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, expressed enthusiasm for the potential benefits to her constituency but cautioned that Whitehall does not fix problems unless explicitly instructed to do so.

Labour’s industrial strategy, published under Keir Starmer, identified eight sectors for growth, including advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and defence. Healey used his conference speech last month to promise a new age of industrialisation, aiming for good growth in every postcode. He invited a young apprentice who helped build a new Mersey ferry to the stage, symbolizing the party's focus on practical skills and new work.

The backbenchers’ paper states that the state has lost capacity and acquired behaviours that inhibit reindustrialisation. It adds that the government has become less knowledgeable about the economy and businesses, making it slower to make decisions and less able to plan comprehensively.