Andy Burnham will announce a new government body called Great British Grid during his first party conference speech as Labour leader on Tuesday in Liverpool. This publicly owned company aims to accelerate investments and competition within Britain's electricity grid, addressing rising energy costs and business challenges. The initiative is part of Burnham’s broader plan for increased public control over utilities and aligns with Labour's goal of reducing UK energy costs to match European levels within a decade.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-29,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Andy Burnham, newly elected leader of the Labour Party, delivered his first speech as leader at the party's conference in Liverpool on Wednesday. The speech was emotional and covered bold policies such as reforming social care and electoral systems, drawing mixed reactions from attendees and media outlets.
Burnham choked up while discussing his father who recently passed away, a moment that resonated deeply with the audience. He admitted to wanting to move faster on cost-of-living measures but stressed fiscal honesty about what Britain can afford. The speech was seen by some as one of the most memorable in recent years, with former BBC political editor Andrew Marr comparing it favorably to Tony Blair's speeches.
Critics like Mail Online’s Quentin Letts were less impressed, describing the emotional tone and policy promises as overly sentimental and sugar-coated. Meanwhile, supporters praised Burnham for his relatability and commitment to addressing working-class concerns, potentially appealing to voters who had drifted away from Labour under Keir Starmer.
The speech also touched on plans for electoral reform, aiming to introduce proportional representation in Westminster elections, a significant change since 1918. This move is seen as part of Burnham's strategy to transform the UK’s political system fundamentally, though some within the party are wary about such dramatic changes given current fiscal constraints and public opinion.
Written for “Andy Burnham Labour Speeches” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 24 other(s) covering the same event.
- Published
Andy Burnham is expected to announce a new government body to invest in Britain's electricity grid in his first party conference speech as Labour leader on Tuesday.
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Burnham → publish → Tuesday
The prime minister will tell party activists in Liverpool that the new publicly owned company, branded Great British Grid, will speed up grid hook-ups by driving up competition for connection projects.
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company → tell → projects
He is expected to put the proposals at the heart of a new goal to bring UK energy costs in line with other nations in Europe within ten years.
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He → expect → years
He has also promised to use the address to give details of how he intends to pay for the new NHS-style social care system for England he announced over the weekend.
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he → promise → weekend
Burnham is expected to bill the creation of the GB Grid as the first significant move in his ambition to provide greater public control of utilities, which he put at the centre of his pitch for power over the summer.
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he → expect → summer
He is expected to say that faster connections to the electricity grid could help fix a "cost crisis" in energy that has proved "crippling for businesses".
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that → expect → businesses
Full details of the new body are yet to be set out, but Labour said it would invest in and compete for transmission connection projects alongside the three private companies that currently own and manage the grid in Britain.
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that → set → Britain
The party said it would also make it easier for firms waiting to be connected to the grid to finance connection infrastructure themselves, with GB Grid supporting and potentially co-investing in projects alongside them.
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Grid → say → them
Labour has said that funding for the new body will be found within the existing budget of GB Energy, the public green investment company set up by Labour last year and which is now headquartered in Aberdeen.
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which → say → Aberdeen
The transition of electricity generation from large fossil fuel stations to the more remote locations used for renewables, such as offshore windfarms, will require Britain's ageing transmission grid to undergo extensive rewiring in coming years.
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grid → use → years
Energy regulator Ofgem has estimated that £70bn of investment is required in the grid between 2025 and 2031, quadrupling the current rate of investment.
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70bn → estimate → investment
But in a report earlier this month, the National Audit Office warned that the number of projects waiting to connect to the grid had grown "significantly" whilst delays to projects were also increasing.
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delays → warn → projects
In his speech on Tuesday afternoon, Burnham is expected to say that GB Grid will "work with the private sector and network companies" to "reform a broken energy market".
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Grid → expect → market
He will add: "It will increase competition to drive down costs and speed up delivery so businesses can connect faster and grow quicker.
"
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businesses → add → delivery
This is what more public control can do."
Triple lock speculation
Burnham's speech will see him promise an "honest conversation" with voters about difficult subjects, alongside the overall message of "hope" that he has made the theme of the four-day gathering.
He is expected to say that he initially wanted to "give the usual tub-thumping conference speech" but that "the patriot in me tells me something very different is needed".
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something → do → me
It comes ahead of a tricky Budget at the end of next month, where the room for manoeuvre facing the prime minister has been narrowed by recent rises to the cost of UK borrowing.
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room → come → borrowing
Ahead of the speech, the prime minister has promised to reveal details of how he intends to fund his plans to provide free social care services to everyone in England.
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he → promise → England
He has said he wants to put his his plans before voters at the next general election, which legally must be held by August 2029 at the latest, before aiming to roll out the new system from 2030.
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which → say → 2030
There has been speculation that in his efforts to free up future funding for his social care plans, the prime minister could signal his willingness to review the "triple lock" uprating policy for the state pension.
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minister → free → pension
The policy - under which pension payments rise annually by the highest of 2.5%, inflation, or average wage rises - is expected to add billions to the cost of pensions in future years because of the UK's ageing population.
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payments → rise → population
On Monday, Chancellor John Healey declined to guarantee the promise - which has featured in every Labour manifesto since 2015 - would feature in the party's blueprint for voters at the next election.
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which → decline → election
"The manifesto will be the manifesto at the time, I'm not going to do that now," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
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he → go → Radio
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It → deliver → inbox
The Aporia
