Burnham says ‘too much time is wasted in those dramas’ when asked about Scottish independence – as it happened

We’re going to wind down our UK politics coverage now, heres a quick list of some of todays top lines: Andy Burnham has declared that he is making a “serious and genuine offer” to the Scottish government in order to put more control “in the hands of local people” through devolution.

Burnham, giving a speech in Lanarkshire, stated that he was open to working with first minister John Swinney, even though the two have “a different view” on Scottish independence.

The deputy first ministers for Scotland and Wales both spoke at the SNP conference taking place in Aberdeen, with Plaid Cymru’s Sioned Williams praising the victories both parties enjoyed in May and her Scottish counterpart, Jenny Gilruth, claiming that “Westminster’s time is coming to an end”.

The Guardian understands that chancellor John Healey is poised to tax Britain’s banks in his 28 October budget to help offset the damage inflicted on the public finances by war in the Middle East. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has label

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has criticised Andy Burnham and Labour for their attempts to block a bill that would afford extra protections for historic pubs, calling the efforts an “absolute disgrace.”

The protections, put forward in a bill by Conservative MP Mike Wood, would have given pubs in England a “legal shield” from unlawful redevelopment, with the 2023 destruction of the Crooked House, which was located in Wood’s Kingswinford and South Staffordshire constituency, cited as an example of what can be avoided.

The bill was “talked out” on Friday, as a five-hour debate involving a group of Labour MPs prevented its second reading from taking place before the 2. 30pm cut-off time. Wood accused Labour of filibustering to prevent the bill from passing, saying, “This was Andy Burnham’s first test of whether he means what he says on pubs, and he’s flunked it.”

Paul Ainsworth, the national planning policy adviser for Camra, accused the government of blocking the bill, which he said wa

Next up in Aberdeen, Gilruth’s Welsh opposite number, Sioned Williams, spoke about the connections that bind the two countries as well and claimed that they shared the same dream of independence.

Williams congratulated the SNP for their own victory in May and echoed Gilruth’s sentiment that the success of national parties in all three countries could spell the end of the UK, claiming that “the stars aligned in Wales, Scotland, and the north of Ireland, and the UK constitution now sits in a very different constellation.”

Back to Scottish news, day two of the SNP conference has kicked off in Aberdeen with deputy first minister Jenny Gilruth taking the stage first. Gilruth took the opportunity to congratulate Plaid Cymru, the SNP’s sister party, for their victory in the May Senedd elections, pointing out that it meant that “Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are now led by first ministers who believe in independence from the UK.”

Gilruth also reminded the crowd of the meeting that took place between the three nations’ first ministers in Cardiff in September, claiming that it was “the clearest possible sign yet that Westminster’s time is coming to an end.”

In other news today, pornography that depicts strangulation and incestuous relationships will be banned in England and Wales from early November, the government has announced. The content will be outlawed from 6 November after cross-party pressure prompted ministers to announce new legislation earlier this year.

Online pornography depicting strangulation or suffocation, sex between people who are related or pretending to be related, or when somebody is pretending to be a child under 16, will be illegal. The justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said: “This isn’t about criminalising harmless sexual preferences. But porn can shape what people think a healthy relationship looks like, especially young people.

“Content that normalises, or even glorifies, violence against women is dangerous and can blur the line with what is acceptable in real life.” Read more:

Continuing on the theme of Scottish independence, Burnham was asked by the Daily Record whether he was categorically ruling out a second referendum during his premiership. The prime minister said: I think unions of countries are better because you can face a challenging world in a more confident and stronger way, in my view, when you collaborate and you work together.

That is my view, I communicated it to the [Scottish] first secretary very clearly. He has a different view, but let’s accept there’s a different view there and then work on together what we can agree on. My view won’t be changing, but let’s now move forward where we can make some progress.”

Following his speech, Burnham is taking questions from the media. When asked by the BBC whether his approach with devolution will make him more or less likely the last prime minister of the United Kingdom, he said: “Obviously, I don’t want to be that.” The SNP has been pushing for a path to Scottish independence, which the prime minister has repeatedly ruled out.

Burnham added: I just feel we all have to move beyond the constitutional questions. In my view, people in Scotland are suffering the cost of living crisis, like they are in England and everywhere else. And I think our job is to focus on the practicalities, to focus on solutions for people. Right now, too much time is wasted in those dramas. It consumes too much energy.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the prime minister’s plans to devolve more powers to Scottish towns and regions is a “waste of time”. During her own visit to Scotland, at the Malcom Group near Glasgow, Badenoch said: “I think that this is yet again a waste of time discussion.

“This naval gazing about Holyrood powers and constitutional settlements and should we have another referendum and should have more councils – they all have the powers that they need.” She said the discussion should instead be on what the Scottish government is doing with its powers, which she believed was “absolutely nothing”. She told Sky News: “What are they doing on education? What are they doing on health?

They’ve got no answers.” Here she is standing in front of a mural of Mel Gibson’s William Wallace who famously led a rebellion against English rule:

Burham has finished his speech, which lasted about 35 minutes. I could just about hear him on the hot mic saying “sorry that went on a bit” as he shook someone’s hand off camera.

The prime minister said he is making a “serious and genuine offer” to the Scottish government to put more control “in the hands of local people”. He said: We need to look at the resources and decision-making powers that sit at the regional level in Scotland, so that no Scottish city regions are left behind. I know the Scottish government has announced a long term programme for local government reform.

But if you ask me, we’ve got to move faster … if we don’t move now, Scotland could lose out. There is a risk that some of the towns and cities become underpowered when some of the towns and cities of the north of England are going the other way and starting to power up. I don’t want to see that as prime minister.”

Kaynak: The Guardian · Özgün metin İngilizcedir.