0:00
Now, to take Andy Burnham at his word, what he wants to do is not just constantly transfer money from wealthy parts of the country to the rest
0:07
We've been doing that for a very long time. He wants all parts of the country to enjoy what he calls good growth
0:13
Good growth in every postcode, he says. And he wants those regions and cities and indeed the nations of the UK to start paying their own way
0:20
And who could be against that? It sounds fantastic. But one of my least popular, least trendy opinions is that devolution is wildly over-fetishised in this country
0:29
And we can look at the example of Scotland and Wales the last couple of decades and see how it's paid off
0:34
And almost everything the Welsh and Scottish governments have touched has been a disaster, not least in health and education
0:39
So the idea that local councils, who can't seem to get potholes right at the moment
0:43
are going to become efficient and expert managers of water and utilities and transport and building, I think is probably for the birds
