Andy Burnham has admitted that he wouldn’t rule out running for leader of the Labour party “one day” in the future.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester appeared on Sky News this morning to discuss his future career ambitions with presenter Kay Burley in an interview that also touched on his calls to bring utility companies back into public ownership to help tackle the cost of living crisis, his criticism of the two Conservative party leadership contenders for “promising more Thatcherism” if they become Prime Minister, and more.
Mr Burnham said he would consider another attempt at becoming Labour leader and Prime Minister “one day” if it was “something people would support”, but added that this wouldn’t be any time soon and stuck by his commitment to serve his second term as Greater Manchester mayor.
“Not now because we’ve got a leader of the Labour Party who is providing leadership in the cost of living crisis,” he explained.
“Just being honest, in the future? You know, I’ve said I will serve my full second term as mayor of Manchester, [but] if at some point way beyond the point where we are… that was something that was a possibility, I would consider it.
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“But I’m just focussed on what I’m doing right now.”
The mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has given one of his strongest signals yet that he could be interested in leading the Labour Party, should the possibility arise.
Mr Burnham’s interview with Sky News comes after he recently held a number of talks with bosses at Avanti West Coast over the rail provider’s slashing of services to and from London, and after the dates for the introduction of Greater Manchester’s £2 bus ticket price cap were announced.
Away from “being honest” about his future, Mr Burnham also called on the government to make urgent changes to the way utility companies provide “essential services” to the public as the cost of living crisis continues to make its impact felt nationwide, and admitted that he feels there is “certainly a case” for more “public control and more public ownership of essential utilities”.
He then praised Keir Starmer’s cost of living policy of freezing energy bills as “a good start”.
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Mr Burnham said the cost of living crisis is on “the scale of which we’ve not faced before,” and added that it will “require politicians to do different things, to intervene in markets, to protect people.”
Should energy companies be nationalised?
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham says Thatcherite privatisation, that the Tory leadership candidates want to continue, has created "chaos" on trains, unaffordable bus fares and raw sewage on beaches.https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3pic.twitter.com/b6nRZk223L
He then appealed to MPs to work with one another to find a solution.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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Appeal launched to find the owner of live chickens found at Creamfields festival
Daisy Jackson
The hunt is on to find the owner of a pair of chickens who were discovered at Creamfields festival.
The two birds were spotted on the grounds of the huge electronic music festival by bewildered festival-goers.
The cockerel and hen were trapped in a hedge, after it appears they wandered onto the festival campsite before the security barriers were installed.
The birds then found themselves trapped inside as around 70,000 music fans poured into Cheshire for a line-up that included Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Disclosure, and Tiësto.
The chickens have been safely rescued from the Creamfields festival site and are recovering at a wildlife centre, and now the RSPCA is on a mission to find their owner.
Festival-goers first called the RSPCA on Saturday 29 August to alert them to the cockerel and hen trapped inside the festival, one of whom assisted in the rescue mission.
RSPCA Inspector Leanne Cooper: “I was surprised that they were inside the festival site and I needed to get through the road blocks and security before reaching them on foot through muddy fields. I met the caller who helped me as they were just running up and down the hedge line where there was a wire fence blocking access.
Where the chickens were discovered at CreamfieldsThe RSPCA wants to track their owners down
“We managed to guide them out and I caught both of them with my rescue net which was a bit of a sight for the festival campers.
“I don’t think they were abandoned and they’re more likely to be stray because it’s farmland all around the festival site. They don’t have any health issues, apart from being quite underweight.
“With the fences going up a week before the festival starts they’d probably been unable to get out for some time and had been left foraging in the hedge. Someone mentioned that a third bird was also trapped, although we couldn’t find any others.
“I am really grateful to the festival-goer who found them and alerted us to their plight.”
Manchester Airport issues update for anyone flying today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has issued an update for anyone catching a flight today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday.
In case you hadn’t heard, hundreds of flights at several major UK airports – including Manchester Airport – were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday (8 September 2026), with the incident grounding planes and resulting in numerous cancellations.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide, and many passengers were told to expect disruption for the rest of the day.
One of the worst-affected airlines was said to be Ryanair, with around 65,000 passengers affected by the cancellations and delays.
Manchester Airport issued its first statement addressing the matter at 3:15pm yesterday, stating: “We are aware of an issue affecting NATS’ air traffic control service at UK airports, which may result in delays to some departing flights from Manchester Airport today.
“Passengers due to travel are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline. We will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as more information becomes available.”
Now, although the issue has been resolved, Manchester Airport has issued further statements informing anyone travelling today what they can expect.
The airport started off by saying that it is ‘operating as normal’ today, but that passengers are advised to ‘check with their airline for the latest information’.
Emily Sergeant -
30th August 2022 
