Labour MPs: No 10 North Must Drive Industrial Push

More than 90 Labour backbenchers have told Prime Minister Andy Burnham that his industrial plans will not work unless they are run from his Manchester office.

The group's briefing paper argues that decades of deindustrialisation and deregulation have stripped the state of the knowledge needed to rebuild industry. "The state has lost capacity and has acquired a worrying set of behaviours which will inhibit reindustrialisation," the paper says. It claims the government is now less knowledgeable about the economy, unable to plan comprehensively, and slow to make decisions.

To address this, the MPs want Burnham to pass a Reindustrialisation Act that sets targets for job creation through manufacturing capacity, holding ministers accountable for meeting them. "If we do not plan for reindustrialisation, we cannot achieve it," the group argues. They also want First Secretary Louise Haigh to oversee the effort, with operations based at No 10 North, the outpost Burnham opened in July. Additionally, the group proposes renaming the National Wealth Fund as the Reindustrialisation Development Corporation to focus its capital on rebuilding British industry.

Andy MacNae, MP for Rossendale and Darwen and chair of the group, said he has no doubt about the commitment of Burnham or Chancellor John Healey. Still, he described "a kind of inertia in government, within the civil service, within economic orthodoxy, that still says that growth policy is about cities," referring to places already performing well. MacNae said the effort must focus on "delivering jobs to the places that need them most" and noted the recent decision to nationalise British Steel.

Steve Yemm, MP for Mansfield, said countries worldwide are reindustrialising while many in Whitehall still view industrial policy as "dangerous nostalgia." Lorraine Beavers, MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, said she is enthusiastic about the potential for her constituency but added: "If I have learned anything since becoming an MP two years ago, it's that Whitehall doesn't fix a problem unless it is told to."

Healey told the Labour conference last month that he would bring a "new age of industrialisation," and the budget is scheduled for Wednesday. Labour's industrial strategy, released under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, had identified eight sectors for growth, including advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and defence.