He said devolution ‘was never supposed to stop at the doors of the Scottish Parliament’
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he wanted to end the “patronising” tick-box approach of central government as part of his drive to “rewire” the state and devolve power out of Westminster and Holyrood.
In a speech in Motherwell he said: “I want everyone in Scotland to know that my reason in going back to Westminster is not to carry on with the old Westminster and Whitehall ways… I’m going back to change all of that. That’s why I’m Prime Minister.
“When I say I want good growth in every postcode, that means every single postcode in Scotland as well.
“And what that requires is giving more power to people and places everywhere to change more things for themselves.”
He said his experiences as Greater Manchester mayor had taught him the value of “moving away from the often patronising approach of public services” and “top-down tick-box systems that no one trusts”.
He called for “deeper” devolution in Scotland, describing it as “one of the most centralised nations in Europe”.
He said devolution “was never supposed to stop at the doors of the Scottish Parliament”.
He said: “It was always meant to be the start of something deeper, the foundations of a nation where communities had more of a say in their own future, and where the norm was always to push power out until it reached every person and every postcode.
“Instead, we’ve ended up with a situation where Scotland, the most devolved nation in the UK, is itself one of the most centralised nations in Europe.
“And I don’t say that to score points, genuinely I don’t. I say that because I believe we need to be honest about that if we really want to get growth in every postcode.”
Referring to his drive to increase devolution for English regions, he added: “I want those same opportunities for Scotland and Scottish regions; the chance to stop looking back at what was once here and start looking forward to what’s coming next.”