Devolution – or devo-maxxing – was the order of the day in Andy Burnham’s most significant speech yet on how he would govern. But devolution is a tune plenty of leaders have played before. Tony Blair turbo-charged it after 1997, George Osborne promised a Northern Powerhouse, and Boris Johnson made plenty of noise about levelling up. Still, Britain remains top-heavy, with power and wealth concentrated in London. The UK also sends a far greater share of tax revenue to central government than almost all other major economies. So is now the right time to devo-maxx? And is Burnham the right man to do it? New episodes of In The Room drop every week. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Andy Burnham is set to unveil plans to transfer power from Whitehall to a “Number 10 in the North" in a speech in Manchester.

Andy Burnham, the newly elected MP, will on Monday pledge to give Britain the “circuit-breaker it needs” in a major speech unveiling his plans for devolution and the economy