Burnham Summons Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to an Economic Summit

Andy Burnham will bring the leaders of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland together this autumn for a summit intended to lift the UK economy, announced during his first official visit to Wales as prime minister.

Speaking at the Tata steelworks in Port Talbot, where he met workers, apprentices and executives, Burnham said he wanted "every leader in this country signed up" to the goal of "good jobs in every community."

Reviving a crisis-era body

The meeting will convene under the National Economic Council, created by Gordon Brown's government after the 2008 banking crash and dormant since. Bringing back an institution designed for an emergency is a deliberate signal about how the government rates the current moment.

The first ministers of Wales and Scotland, along with Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers, are due to meet Burnham there in October.

The devolution proposition

The more consequential remark was constitutional. Burnham suggested Wales and Scotland consider deepening devolution along English lines — pushing powers down to cities and regions under directly elected mayors — and said he was "open to the conversation" about transferring control of policing in Wales to the Welsh government and Senedd.

Coming from a former metro mayor, the mayoral pitch is unsurprising, and it inverts the usual devolution argument. Edinburgh and Cardiff have generally sought powers from Westminster; this proposes they hand some onward to their own regions. Whether either administration wants to dilute its own authority is a different question from whether Downing Street thinks they should.