Burnham says his ’10-year plan’ WILL come before Christmas as Labour unrest mounts over reliance on ‘political slogans’

Andy Burnham today insisted his ten-year plan will be ready before Christmas amid Labour warnings it must be more than ‘political slogans’.

At PMQs, Mr Burnham dismissed concerns about a lack of ambition in the much-hyped strategy.

Challenged by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, the premier also backtracked on his previous suggestion that the timetable will slip into next year. 

‘We will present our plan for Britain to this House before it rises for the Christmas recess,’ he said, promising to give ‘leadership’ and ‘stability’. 

The clashes came as a group of mainly Red Wall MPs voiced alarm that the Government is not being radical enough.

They are pushing for action to bail out heavy industries being hammered by soaring energy costs.  

A delegation from the Reindustrialisation Research Group (RRG) is said to be meeting Cabinet Office minister Sally Jameson to pass on their concerns later. 

At PMQs, Andy Burnham dismissed concerns about a lack of ambition in the much-hyped strategy 

Challenged by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, the premier also backtracked on his previous suggestion that the timetable will slip into next year

Mrs Badenoch said Mr Burnham had entered Downing Street promising a plan to ‘reverse 40 years of Neoliberalism’.

She added: ‘Is it really true he has so little vision for this country he needs the Boston Consulting Group to write it for him?’

The PM did not deny working with the consulting group, but said: ‘I did walk up Downing Street promising a ten-year plan for this country because I am determined to give this country the stability that they failed to provide.

‘I am determined to give the leadership that this country needs and I can say to her we will present our plan for Britain to this House before it rises for the Christmas recess.’

The Tory leader pressed on: ‘I’m not surprised he’s asked management consultants to help him write his ten-year plan. He needs all the help that he can get.

‘We’ve heard one thing that will be in it – he is merging the DVLA with the DVSA. Exciting stuff.

‘This Government is adrift. Two weeks ago, we had a do-nothing Budget.

‘It pushed all the big decisions, like funding our defence, into the spending review. But we have no idea when that is.’

The ten-year plan has been used to explain why the Budget at the end of last month kicked a number of key issues down the road. 

It could flesh out Mr Burnham’s drive to devolve more power to local leaders across the UK, and to reform the social care system. 

But it will not lay a path for defence budgets hitting 3 per cent of GDP by 2030 – which has been left to a spending review in the second half of the year. 

The Prime Minister’s de facto deputy Louise Haigh refused to say last week whether the ten-year plan will include action on benefits.

Mr Burnham said at PMQs that his plan will set out a ‘compelling’ vision on reindustrialisation. 

But Andy MacNae, the head of the RRG, told the Guardian last night: ‘There are a lot of gaps in the Government’s reindustrialisation strategy which are not yet filled. 

‘The ten-year plan is a chance to fill them, but in the briefings we have been given that is not what we are seeing.

‘We have had really good engagement from ministers, but we need to see something more constructive and we are just not seeing that at the moment. 

‘The risk is we don’t see reindustrialisation at all, and continue to see deindustrialisation.’

Fellow member Jonathan Hinder, the MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, said: ‘Making reindustrialisation cannot just be about political slogans. 

‘We are going in the wrong direction and we need pretty drastic action, but we are not yet seeing that from this government.’