MPs demand Manchester base for UK reindustrialisation drive

A group of more than 90 backbench Labour MPs has issued a direct warning to Prime Minister Andy Burnham. They argue that his pledge to reindustrialise Britain will fail unless the effort is driven from his new office in Manchester.

The MPs claim the government currently lacks the detailed understanding of industry required to execute such a plan. They state that decades of deindustrialisation and deregulation have left the state less knowledgeable about the economy and slower to make decisions.

The group urges Burnham to establish a new Reindustrialisation Act. This legislation would set clear targets for job creation by rebuilding manufacturing capacity. It would also require ministers to be held accountable for meeting those targets.

The briefing paper, seen by the Guardian, proposes that First Secretary Louise Haigh oversee the reindustrialisation effort. It suggests the operation should be based at No 10 North, the Manchester outpost established in July that already handles some growth policy.

The MPs also propose transforming the National Wealth Fund into a Reindustrialisation Development Corporation. This body would focus specifically on providing capital for rebuilding UK industry. They argue this shift is necessary to counter the current inertia in government and the civil service.

Andy MacNae, the MP for Rossendale and Darwen who chairs the group, said there is a prevailing view in economic orthodoxy that growth policy only concerns cities already doing well. He stated that the goal must be delivering jobs to places that need them most, specifically by making things that provide national resilience.

Steve Yemm, MP for Mansfield, noted that countries around the world are reindustrialising. He argued that too many in Whitehall still treat industrial policy as dangerous nostalgia and need the prime minister’s full backing to challenge those assumptions.

Lorraine Beavers, MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, expressed enthusiasm for the promise of reindustrialisation for her constituency. However, she warned that Whitehall does not fix a problem unless it is explicitly told to do so.

Chancellor John Healey, who delivers his first budget on Wednesday, promised a new age of industrialisation in his speech at Labour’s conference last month. He invited a young apprentice who helped build a new Mersey ferry to the stage. The Labour industrial strategy, published under Keir Starmer, identified eight sectors for growth, including advanced manufacturing, clean energy and defence.