Labour MP and former Housing Secretary Steve Reed has backed the Government’s push to devolve more power away from Westminster, while warning Prime Minister Andy Burnham that London must not lose out when funding and investment are distributed across the country.
Speaking to Times Radio, Reed said there was strong support for greater devolution but cautioned that some Labour MPs in the capital were concerned that the Government’s focus on rebalancing power could be interpreted as prioritising Greater Manchester and the North at London’s expense.
He said:
“I think we have to be very, very careful about how we talk about the devolution.”
Reed added that funding allocations had to be carried out fairly and stressed that this “includes being fair to London”. His comments have also been reported more widely as Burnham’s devolution agenda comes under closer scrutiny from London MPs.
‘Devolution and government funding must be fair to London’
Following the interview, Reed reinforced his message, saying simply:
“Devolution and government funding must be fair to London.”
His intervention comes as Burnham presses ahead with what the Government has described as the biggest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation. Labour Home has previously reported the Government’s wider devolution drive.
Under the new approach, mayors are being given substantially greater responsibility for areas including transport, housing, skills and economic development, while parts of England will also gain greater control over locally generated revenues.
Reed has long supported devolution. While serving as Communities Secretary, he argued that excessive centralisation had contributed to deep regional inequalities and said power needed to move closer to local communities.
His latest intervention is therefore not a challenge to the principle of devolution, but a call for the policy to benefit every region.
London faces its own inequalities
Reed argued that London’s economic strength should not obscure the serious pressures facing many people living in the capital.
Although London generates a substantial share of the UK economy, it also faces high housing costs, significant levels of poverty and severe pressures on local public services.
Reed himself highlighted these inequalities while in government, noting that more than one in four Londoners were living in poverty despite the capital having the country’s highest average incomes.
That is why, he argues, efforts to address regional inequality must not become a competition between London and other parts of England.
Burnham promises ‘growth in every postcode’
Burnham has made deeper devolution a defining feature of his premiership, promising to spread power, investment and economic opportunity more evenly around Britain.
His Government has already announced plans to allow mayors to retain a share of income tax and business rates growth, while Chancellor John Healey has also emphasised decentralisation as part of Labour’s economic strategy, including the aim of good growth in every postcode.
Burnham has repeatedly argued that his objective is not to weaken London but to ensure communities elsewhere have access to powers and opportunities that have traditionally been concentrated in the capital.
The Prime Minister’s broader ambition is for “growth in every postcode”, with stronger local leadership intended to drive investment and improve public services.
Reed calls for a national approach
Reed’s message is that Labour can pursue that ambition while ensuring London continues to receive a fair share of resources.
His intervention reflects a wider discussion within the party about how a more devolved England can reduce longstanding geographic inequalities without creating new divisions between regions.
For Reed, the principle is straightforward: moving power out of Westminster is the right direction for the country, but devolution must mean opportunity for London as well as Manchester, the North, the Midlands and every other part of England.
