The Guardian view on Burnham and the devolved nations: a test for the new politics in Westminster

A test of the new politics in Westminster

The prime minister has unveiled his plans for English devolution, which are part of his government's ambition to rebalance power and resources in a country skewed towards London and the south-east. However, the picture is less clear beyond England's borders, particularly in Scotland and Wales, where progressive nationalist parties now rule.

The challenge for Mr Burnham will be how to combine a conviction that power should be devolved as locally as possible, with the need to respect the status and prerogatives of different national administrations. Early meetings with John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Scottish and Welsh first ministers, have been reported as positive by both sides. But the test of the prime minister's commitment to compromise and consensus-building will be how he chooses to engage with them.

The prime minister has argued that 'the people of Dundee and Bangor feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster'. That seems like a stretch, but Westminster should not in any case claim the right to bypass the devolved administrations in attempting to solve the problem. Sir Keir at times adopted precisely that approach, at one point warning ministers against being 'overly deferential' to the Scottish and Welsh governments. That didn't do Labour's popularity much good in either country.

Wales has a population of roughly the same size as Greater Manchester, yet the Welsh government does not, for example, have the powers the mayoral authority does over policing. If Mr Burnham is to be consistent in his devolutionary logic, that kind of anomaly should be addressed. Inevitably there will be frustrations, rows and disagreements, not least over calls for the Barnett formula funding arrangements to be updated.

The Scottish National party, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Féin will all have a powerful motive for taking credit for what goes right, and blaming Mr Burnham's government when things go wrong. Matters in Wales are further complicated by the minority status of the Plaid government, which Welsh Labour has refused to support and which has yet to succeed in passing a budget.

But Mr Burnham's direction of travel can be the right one for the devolved nations as well as the English regions. A confidence-building early move would be to repeal contentious powers granted by the post-Brexit United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, which allow London to distribute funds across the UK in a variety of policy areas. As the Institute for Government has suggested, Mr Burnham could instead fund the devolved governments to establish their own priorities.

Devolution, and the possibilities it could unleash, were at the heart of Mr Burnham's rise to Britain's highest political office. Entirely understandably, his first moves have reflected the regional backdrop to that ascent. He should also follow his instincts in the rest of the United Kingdom.