Former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has pledged to radically devolve fiscal powers away from Westminster and deliver ¡°good growth¡± in every part of the U.K. if he succeeds in his bid to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister.

Britain is ¡°stuck in a rut¡± with output held back by a ¡°stark imbalance in resources between national government and local government,¡± he said on Monday. The leadership contender was speaking at the People¡¯s History Museum in Manchester, where he spent nine years as mayor before returning to a seat in the House of Commons last week.

He vowed to set up a branch of the prime minister¡¯s office in the northern city, oversee the biggest house-building program since the postwar period and devolve more control over services such as water, energy and transport.