More widely, Burnham has also said he would publish a 10-year plan for the country and the economy later this year, likely to detail his wider plans on decentralisation, devolution, and rebuilding Britain.
Ordinarily, you might expect a significant infrastructure programme with such plans, but Burnham also wants to fund the Defence Investment Plan, a multi-billion, multi-year spending commitment for the UK military. How will he square this?
In addition, his first priority going through the doors, he said, would be a national plan to end rough sleeping.
He made a similar pledge in Greater Manchester, but some early progress went in reverse in recent years. When I questioned him about this in February, he said more funding and powers from central government were needed to deal with the recent rise. As his first act as PM, he has now released funds to address it from within the housing budget.
Long term, he said the answer is mass council house building. This will take years to feed through.
Welfare is another critical test. Here, I’m told, Burnham expects to show he can make progress on what he called “sustainable reform”. This will lean heavily on Alan Milburn’s review, which is likely to recommend significant job support funds and mental health assistance for young workers in order to reduce welfare bills.
This is likely to be delivered by local mayors who know what works in their regions. Burnham hopes to show the markets he can deliver the welfare reform that eluded former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.
This is the new PM’s conundrum. He faces the same manifesto and borrowing rule constraints as his predecessor, yet he clearly wants to do more. He says his rewiring of Britain will help the economy grow, but many of these solutions could take years.
And the recent rapid turnover of prime ministers and chancellors shows, even thinking a few years ahead might feel like a luxury.
