ELECTED provosts in Scotland "just makes sense," Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has said during a visit to Larbert.
The Labour politician said it would most likely lead to greater collaboration between cities in Scotland and England – without the need for Westminster or Holyrood to step in.
The plans for elected provosts were a central tenet in a report released by Gordon Brown on the future of the UK last year.
Labour have not formally taken these on board – but Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said they are currently under consideration by the party.
Speaking to the Press Association as he visited Alexander Dennis’s Larbert site earlier today to see the first 50 new “Bee Network” buses for Greater Manchester, Mr Burnham said he could sympathise with the SNP’s anxiety over the reach of the government in Westminster.
“I’ve had my frustrations and to be honest with you, I feel like I understand the sentiments in Scotland better because we all have our frustrations about the way Westminster treats the rest of the UK, the regions in England but also Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“I think people may not realise in Scotland how much we feel the same in the north of England.
“We saw it in the pandemic, the way Greater Manchester was treated by the Westminster Government. They feel they can do things to us that they wouldn’t dare do in London and the South East.
“That’s what’s got to change. Personally, I think we’ve got to rewire Britain to make it better, and that includes more devolution to us and to Scotland.”
Mr Burnham added: “If I could pick up the phone to the elected mayors or provost of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen or Dundee, we’d all start working more.”
It would result in greater collaboration between businesses in Scotland and England without the need for national governments, he added.
The Mancunian mayor's intervention came as Humza Yousaf criticised Mr Sarwar and Scottish Labour for staying silent as the Tories launched attacks to "undermine devolution".
He also said how he understands the SNP’s claims that the Westminster Government is “destroying devolution”.
The Labour politician cited his own conflict with the UK Government during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he accused the Tories of “bullying” his region into accepting less than the requested £65 million business support package.
Which comes as First Minister Humza Yousaf hit out at the UK Government and claimed Scotland’s deposit return scheme could be scrapped after it failed to grant an Internal Market Act exemption that means glass can be included.
I’ve had my frustrations [with Westminster] and to be honest with you, I feel like I understand the sentiments in Scotland better because we all have our frustrations about the way Westminster treats the rest of the UK, the regions in England but also Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“I think people may not realise in Scotland how much we feel the same in the north of England.
“We saw it in the pandemic, the way Greater Manchester was treated by the Westminster Government. They feel they can do things to us that they wouldn’t dare do in London and the South East.
“That’s what’s got to change. Personally, I think we’ve got to rewire Britain to make it better, and that includes more devolution to us and to Scotland.”
