Why the British hate their councils

“Growth in every corner of the country”, “more money in people’s pockets”, and “people taking back control of what matters to them”: these three phrases could summarize Andy Burnham’s big idea of devolving power away from Westminster, but they are actually taken from Labour’s 2024 local election campaign. That was when another prime minister in waiting, Keir Starmer, promised “full fat devolution” to “take on regional inequality” and unlock “the pride people have in their communities”. In truth, though, those three goals could have come from any number of campaigns since the Brexit referendum a decade ago. The task of bringing power and prosperity to places beyond London’s orbit has become the sword in the stone of British politics. Burnham is not the first to grip the hilt and flex his mu