'Taxpayers should not be forced to fund a duplicate Downing Street just so Andy Burnham can play Prime Minister in Manchester,' wrote one critic

Manchester locals have given their verdict on Andy Burnham's plans for No10 North after he laid out plans for a "rewired Britain" in a speech last week.

Despite having only been the MP for Makerfield for three weeks, Mr Burnham already has big plans for the country – one of which would involve opening what he called a ‘No10 in the North’ up in Manchester.

He told a room of journalists: “Change will be driven through the Prime Minister’s Office in an extended operation based here in Manchester. But here’s the important thing – it will only be based here.

“The job of No10 North will be to make power flow into the Midlands, into the South West, into the East of England and, yes, into London as I said before, as much as the North East, Yorkshire & the Humber and here in the North West.

“No10 North will be the nerve centre for a rewired Britain. It will be the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK.

“It will coordinate all parts of Government, at national and local level, to agree a long-term economic strategy and help all places set new growth ambitions.”

It has since been reported that the proposed site for this “nerve centre” would be located at a brownfield site on Great Ancoats Street in Manchester City Centre.

The site itself is currently scheduled for a £310million regeneration project, to create the ‘Manchester Digital Campus.’

Speaking to GB News, people on the street reacted to the proposals, with one person saying that, “taking some of the central control out of London, and distributing it round the neighbourhoods… and spreading some of this country’s wealth back to some of the people who helped create it, I think, is a very good thing to do”.

Another pedestrian was more on the fence, saying “the Government is in London, so it should probably be in London”, but added “a voice in the North is probably a good idea”.

One woman simply said “if it was any other Prime Minister than Andy, I would be happy with the idea”.

The former Greater Manchester Mayor has faced cross-party criticism for the proposals, with suggestions it could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds, and that it would perhaps increase bureaucracy, rather than making things more efficient.

In response to these plans, William Yarwood, campaigns director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: “Taxpayers should not be forced to fund a duplicate Downing Street, a fresh army of officials and another bureaucratic empire just so Andy Burnham can play Prime Minister in Manchester.

“If he wants to help the North, he should start by reducing the crushing tax burden.”

However, the Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, Henri Murison said they would welcome any “big opportunities” for the North of England, stating: “If the Prime Minister-in-waiting continues to have such an ambitious agenda, we will do everything we can to support that.

“The same way we worked with Conservative governments in the past when they had ambitious plans – we were obviously founded by former Conservative Chancellor, George Osbourne.

“We will remain committed to working with any politician, nationally or regionally, who’s committed to the same things that we are.”