Public control of water and energy at heart of Burnham agenda, sources say

Andy Burnham is yet to spell out what bringing energy and water back under public ownership would mean on a national scale. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/Getty View image in fullscreen Andy Burnham is yet to spell out what bringing energy and water back under public ownership would mean on a national scale. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/Getty Public control of water and energy at heart of Burnham agenda, sources say Exclusive: Greater Manchester mayor ‘serious’ about taking over ‘essentials of life’ if he becomes PM, a move critics say could cost taxpayer billions A decade-long project to bring water and energy into public control will lie at the heart of Andy Burnham’s agenda should he become prime minister, according to sources close to the Greater Manchester mayor. Several close allies of Burnham have said he wants to take over broad swathes of UK utilities in an effort to improve performance and potentially reduce bills for consumers. The move would constitute one of the biggest transfers of ownership of British industry since the privatisations of the 1980s, but could also leave the public on the hook for billions of pounds’ worth of infrastructure upgrades and running costs. One Burnham ally said: “When Andy says he wants the public to have control over ‘the essentials of life’, we should believe him. He is completely serious.” Burnham himself has said he wants to see “the essentials of life being run primarily for the public interest, not for the private interests”, but has not spelled out exactly what that would mean on a national scale. View image in fullscreen Andy Burnham on a campaign visit to Ashton-in-Makerfield before the Makerfield byelection. Photograph: Jon Super/AP Andy Burnham rules out paying compensation to Waspi women Read more A spokesperson for Burnham would not comment further on his policy plans. With Labour figures increasingly confident of victory in next week’s Makerfield byelection, senior Burnham allies are now beginning to turn their attention to how to turn his political vision into concrete policies. While the Manchester mayor spends his time knocking on doors in the run-up to polling day, a small group of people close to him have been collating ideas for government. Those feeding in ideas include Josh Simons, the outgoing Makerfield MP, and Miatta Fahnbulleh, the former energy minister. Neither of the two would comment, though friends of Fahnbulleh have said she is doing her own policy thinking which Burnham could use rather than doing it on his behalf. Other contributors include John Wrathmell, Labour’s former head of economic policy who now works with Burnham at the mayoral authority, JP Spencer, the devolution expert at the ThinkLabour thinktank, and Tom Whitney, an adviser to the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander. At the heart of the agenda, according to those briefed, is a proposal to bring utilities back under public control, starting with the stricken Thames Water. Burnham told the Guardian last week: “Publ