Burnham steals from Germans and Finns to spec out his model for governing Britain

By SOPHIE CHURCH - POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 15:59, 29 June 2026 | Updated: 16:24, 29 June 2026 Andy Burnham will draw from European policies and frameworks as he tries to flesh out his plans for rule. The new Makerfield MP said on Monday he would borrow from Finland’s housing policy and Germany’s constitution in his first speech since Keir Starmer resigned as PM. The former Manchester mayor unveiled plans to model Britain’s council home policy on Finland’s ‘Housing First philosophy’ if, as expected, he becomes prime minister. Under ‘Housing First’, Finland gives council homes to homeless people as soon as they need them – removing the need for temporary accommodation. Each tenant has a contract, pays rent and is eligible to apply for housing benefit, but is also given support to get back on their feet. Homelessness has fallen sharply in Finland since it introduced the policy – with around 80 per cent of Housing First tenants remaining housed long-term. Taking inspiration from Housing First, Mr Burnham vowed to roll out ‘the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period’ in trying to prevent homelessness. He said: ‘Having this focus on council homes again, on having them in all parts of the country will represent a decisive shift to a more preventative and productive state, adopting a national Housing First philosophy as has been pioneered so successfully in Finland.’ The new Makerfield MP said on Monday he would borrow from Finland ’s housing policy and Germany ’s constitution in his first speech since Keir Starmer resigned as PM Mr Burnham slammed the 'ten years of political turbulence since Brexit' Britain has endured as he set out his agenda for governing But shadow housing secretary James Cleverly accused Mr Burnham of 'promising a rental home for everyone in England'. He said: 'Andy Burnham has completely failed to tackle homelessness in Manchester. He promised to end it, but it has soared instead, all while he’s been hiking council tax. 'Now he appears to be promising a rental home for everyone in England. Why should voters believe him? 'Under Labour, rough sleeping has hit a record high. Their taxes and red tape have stifled housebuilding. Only the Conservatives will ensure Britain has enough homes, including by scrapping stamp duty which will make more homes available to rent.'  Commenting on the changes, Maya Singer Hobbs, senior research fellow at left-wing think tank IPPR said: 'Two of the biggest barriers to tackling homelessness in this country are a lack of political will and a lack of housing, so Andy Burnham making homelessness a priority in this speech is a really positive signal of his priorities.'  Mr Burnham also set out plans to create a ‘No 10 North’ run from Manchester, which would serve as ‘the nerve centre for a rewired Britain’. And he said No 10 North would drive for parity in living conditions across Britain by copying elements of the German constitution. Speaking from Manchester, Mr Burnham said No 10 North would ‘be the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK’, and would drive for ‘equivalent living conditions in all parts of Britain – borrowing from the German Basic Law’. The German ‘Basic Law’ is the country’s constitution, adopted provisionally in 1949 but retained in 1990 after Germany reunified. Article 106 of Germany’s constitution requires that shared tax revenues between the federal and state governments be distributed to ‘ensure the uniformity of living conditions across the federal territory’. Article 72 meanwhile enables the federal government to pass legislation that overrides individual state laws to ensure ‘equivalent living standards’ across Germany. Despite saying he hoped to rejoin the European Union last year, Mr Burnham changed his tune during the Makerfield campaign, saying that Brexit ‘has been damaging’ and that the ‘last thing’ Britain should do is to ‘re-run those arguments’. But on Monday he slammed the 'ten years of political turbulence since Brexit' Britain has endured as he set out his agenda for governing. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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