Burnham's "Local First" Rule Would Make Devolution the Default, Centralisation the Exception

Prime Minister Andy Burnham will require ministers to justify why any given power should stay in Whitehall rather than be devolved — inverting decades of central-local default. No 10 said the 520,000-strong civil service would become "smaller and strategic" as decisions shift beyond London. The principle could reshape how the English state operates, if enforced.