{"text":[[{"start":13.1,"text":"Andy Burnham has played down suggestions that he wants the UK to quickly rejoin the EU after his rival for the Labour leadership Wes Streeting plunged the party into a debate about reversing Brexit."}],[{"start":25.85,"text":"The Greater Manchester mayor told ITV that in the long run there was a “case” for rejoining the EU but “I’m not advocating that” in the parliamentary by-election he is hoping to contest in Makerfield."}],[{"start":38.1,"text":"Burnham also committed to sticking to chancellor Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules in an effort to reduce market jitters about the prospect of him replacing Sir Keir Starmer as UK prime minister."}],[{"start":49.5,"text":"Streeting, the former health secretary, said on Saturday that Brexit had been a “catastrophic mistake” and he wanted the UK to rejoin the EU. "}],[{"start":58.55,"text":"He added the Labour Party would need to “seek a new mandate” in future election manifestos, implying that it should drop some or all of its “red lines” not to rejoin an EU customs union or the bloc’s single market, or allow a return to free movement."}],[{"start":74.45,"text":"Culture secretary Lisa Nandy, a friend of Burnham’s, hit out at Streeting’s remarks, saying: “I don’t really understand why the sudden focus on Europe."}],[{"start":84.10000000000001,"text":"“If rejoining the EU is the answer, then essentially what we’re saying to people is ‘Life was fine in 2015, we just need to go back there’,” she added."}],[{"start":93.25000000000001,"text":"Nandy said Streeting was due to visit Makerfield and would hear “loud and clear” that people there did not want to reverse Brexit."}],[{"start":101.05000000000001,"text":"Meanwhile Burnham, who is popular with Labour MPs and members, and part of the party’s “soft left”, appeared to walk back some of his previous controversial statements about the bond markets. "}],[{"start":111.35000000000001,"text":"Yields on 10-year UK government bonds hit their highest level since 2008 on Friday as traders priced in a greater likelihood that Burnham would challenge Starmer for the Labour leadership."}],[{"start":123.35000000000001,"text":"Some investors are concerned that a more leftwing Labour government could loosen the UK’s self-imposed borrowing limits."}],[{"start":130.35000000000002,"text":"“Let me say this really clearly. I support the fiscal rules, there needs to be a plan to get debt down,” Burnham told ITV over the weekend."}],[{"start":138.85000000000002,"text":"A spokesperson for the mayor confirmed on Sunday that he “supports the current fiscal rules”."}],[{"start":144.85000000000002,"text":"Reeves’ two key rules require her to push the current budget into surplus by 2029-30, and that debt must decline as a share of the economy by that year."}],[{"start":155.35000000000002,"text":"If Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election, which is likely to take place in June, he is expected to seek to challenge Starmer for the Labour leadership. Streeting said on Saturday he would also join any contest."}],[{"start":169.70000000000002,"text":"Burnham said he would put greater public control of utilities at the heart of his bid to become the next prime minister."}],[{"start":175.4,"text":"“We need a different path completely. What is that path? Put more things back under stronger public control: energy, housing, water, transport,” Burnham told Channel 4. "}],[{"start":187.15,"text":"Burnham also pledged to make Labour “a party that’s solidly on the side of working-class people”. "}],[{"start":193.25,"text":"Burnham’s most popular and effective policy as mayor is widely considered to be taking public control of Greater Manchester’s bus network."}],[{"start":200.9,"text":"That move allowed local leaders control over routes and fares for the first time since the then Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher deregulated the network in the 1980s. "}],[{"start":211.20000000000002,"text":"The policy does not equate to nationalisation: the bus network remains run by private operators, with additional subsidies from local taxes. "}],[{"start":219.60000000000002,"text":"Leaning heavily on this experience, Burnham said on Saturday he could “take that principle and apply it to energy and apply it to water, that’s what I think we need to do”."}],[{"start":229.85000000000002,"text":"But Burnham has so far left some ambiguity about what such a programme would look like."}],[{"start":234.85000000000002,"text":"In recent months he has argued that his agenda for Greater Manchester amounts to “re-industrialisation”, as he has sought to develop a pitch to the soft left of the Labour Party."}],[{"start":244.75000000000003,"text":"That agenda has included a local industrial strategy focusing on a handful of key sectors, such as life sciences, low-carbon industries and professional services, which he has planned to align to a stronger technical education system. "}],[{"start":258.70000000000005,"text":"The Starmer government has already published its own industrial strategy for the UK, focused on similar sectors. "}],[{"start":266.25000000000006,"text":"Burnham launched his by-election campaign slogan — “For Us” — over the weekend, telling the Mirror: “I’m not for a political and economic system that is for the wealthiest and for whom life is already very good. I’m for people who need change.”"}],[{"start":279.80000000000007,"text":"He also gave an indication of the dividing line being drawn with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage ahead of the Makerfield by-election, saying that Thatcher had taken the country down the “wrong path” in the 1980s and had devastated communities in northern England."}],[{"start":294.25000000000006,"text":"Reform was made up of “arch Thatcherites, and I think people need to understand what they are”, Burnham said. "}],[{"start":309.35,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779078617_6142.mp3"}