𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

It’s hard to believe Andy Burnham has been Prime Minister since July, not least because we still don’t know what he actually plans to do. On the day that he became PM, Mr Burnham stood outside 10 Downing Street and announced plans to “bring forward a new plan for Britain, a 10-year plan, laying out a path from where we are now to where I believe we all want Britain to be, wherever we’re coming from, whatever party we support.”

Lots of prime ministers before him have spoken about 10-year plans. But in his case it didn’t seem too strange, because he’s been planning to become prime minister for years. He stood in the Labour leadership contest in 2010 and again in 2015. Then, as mayor of Greater Manchester, he had the chance to see first-hand how central government policies affected the regions of England.

It was easy to believe that he really did have a plan drawn up for the UK. And voters would have a chance to judge whether it was a good plan or not, once they saw it.

We’re still waiting, And we’ll have to wait a bit longer, after last month’s Budget turned out to be a damp squib. There were no big policies in the Budget announced by Chancellor John Healey – just tinkering.

Mr Burnham has now promised his plan will come some time this year. He told ITN: “It’s going to come at the end of this year. You’re talking 2027 to 2037, so it’s way beyond this Parliament.”

And the plan, it has emerged, is to publish a draft plan first – and then spend six to nine months consulting before the real thing is published next year.

The trouble is that he has lots of big ideas, but still hasn’t explained how he will carry them out.

He wants to create a National Care Service similar to the NHS, where care is provided “free” in the sense that the person receiving it doesn’t pay.

Of course, we’ll all have to pay somehow, just as we pay for the NHS with our taxes. And the changes to the triple lock announced by Mr Burnham won’t come close to meeting the bill.

So what is his plan? Will care for older people really be free? Will there be a new tax to pay for it? We don’t know.

Then there is Mr Burnham’s plan for a new “relationship” with the EU. He’s suggested he wants to bring back freedom of movement, but then appeared to deny he ever said it. He’s even talked about rejoining entirely.

What does he actually want? We could, perhaps, find out later this month, but for now we can only guess.

The Prime Minister also wants to change the voting system. Does this mean a system of proportional representation, which has caused political chaos in other countries? Does it mean something else? Will there be a referendum?

We know that he wants to hand more powers to mayors. But what powers exactly? Will they be allowed to levy their own income tax, as the PM has hinted? If so, will this replace council tax or be in addition to it? Will it mean national income tax is cut?

The Government was due to publish a paper alongside the Budget, but this has been delayed.

Most party leaders have to fight leadership election contests – although there are exceptions – which means they at least have to tell their own party activists what they plan.

And to become Prime Minister, they generally need to fight a general election, where their manifestos are rigorously scrutinised. Again, there are exceptions.

Mr Burnham only fought one election to become Prime Minister – the Makerfield by-election. And under our system of government, he has every right to be in No 10. He’s done nothing wrong. But it does mean that his plans have not been thoroughly debated.

And after more than 100 days in power, it’s actually worse than that. We still don’t know what his plan for Britain is.