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Swinney: Of course I would work with Burnham if new powers offered to Holyrood

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Cite

Paton, C. (2026, October 16). Swinney: Of course I would work with Burnham if new powers offered to Holyrood. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/north-lanarkshire-andy-burnham-prime-minister-scottish-government-b1301134.html

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Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-16 · by Craig Paton

Quick Summary

John Swinney, Scotland's Deputy First Minister, stated he would work with UK Health Secretary Andy Burnham if new powers were offered to Holyrood. This comes ahead of Burnham’s visit to North Lanarkshire where he will advocate for more local control and regional empowerment in Scotland. Swinney emphasized his support for devolving as many powers as possible to Scotland, referencing past achievements like the Smith Commission and measures such as the Scottish Child Payment. The article highlights ongoing discussions between Scottish and UK governments on collaboration despite disagreements over certain issues.
Written by AI on 2026-10-16, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Andy Burnham offered Scotland more powers during his first major speech north of the border since becoming Prime Minister, aiming to move beyond the "old politics of conflict" between London and Edinburgh. He proposed designing a new model of regional economic empowerment across Scotland, including devolution from the Department for Work and Pensions. Scottish Economy Secretary Stephen Flynn revealed that First Minister John Swinney had sent a letter to Burnham asking for greater powers for Holyrood, with employability powers being one of the top priorities. However, critics questioned Burnham's simultaneous efforts to revive Brexit rows while urging Scots to move beyond independence debates. During his visit to Motherwell, Burnham declined to explicitly rule out another Scottish independence referendum but stated that his view on independence "won’t be changing." This led some to interpret his comments as a significant moment in the ongoing debate over Scotland’s future within the UK.

Written for “Devolution And Scottish Politics Debate” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Devolution And Scottish Politics Debate
Politics · 8 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 25% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian
Hedges 1 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 5 of 22 claims Outlet record 65/100
“Article A describes an earlier challenge for Burnham to allow a second Scottish independence referendum, while Article B refers to Burnham's actual visit and speech in Scotland about devolving powers to local communities.”
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 20 claims Outlet record 68/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 15 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles describe different events - Article A discusses Swinney's stance on working with Burnham and Whitehall, while Article B covers his speech at the SNP conference about Scottish independence.”
BBC News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe two different speeches by John Swinney, one welcoming Andy Burnham and expressing willingness to work with him if new powers are offered, and another more emotional speech regarding his personal commitment to Scottish independence.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different events related to Andy Burnham's activities and policies, not the same specific incident.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 4 of 26 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe Andy Burnham's visit to Scotland, but Article A focuses on his meeting with concerns about North Sea drilling, while Article B is about Swinney's reaction to potential cooperation and devolution of powers. They cover different aspects of the same trip.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles discuss related topics and intentions but describe different events in time: one is about Burnham's planned speech, while the other covers his agenda and Swinney's response after the speech.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 12 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles describe different parts of the same day's events: Article A discusses Swinney's reaction before Burnham's speech, while Article B covers the actual content and context of the Prime Minister's speech in Motherwell.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 4 of 25 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A describes Burnham's speech and pledge in Scotland on October 14th, while Article B discusses Swinney's response to Burnham's offer of cooperation after the speech.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
25%
5 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
8
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-16 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 8091 article(s) · 68 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 68 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Craig Paton
46 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 During the campaign ahead of May’s election, Mr Swinney shifted his position on the development, which he said should be compared to the carbon implications of importing oil and gas.
🔮 Households assessed as being council tax bands A to D will receive the money, with Mr Healey telling the Commons the devolved nations will receive “their share”.
🔮 Households assessed as being council tax bands A to D will receive the money, with Mr Healey telling the Commons the devolved nations will receive “their share”.
🔮 It is not clear how much funding will come to Scotland as a result of the policy but the Scotland Office has said the Budget will result in a £600 million boost to the Scottish Government’s coffers.
🔮 It is not clear how much funding will come to Scotland as a result of the policy but the Scotland Office has said the Budget will result in a £600 million boost to the Scottish Government’s coffers.
🔮 It is not clear how much funding will come to Scotland as a result of the policy but the Scotland Office has said the Budget will result in a £600 million boost to the Scottish Government’s coffers.
🔮 The Scottish Labour leader will meet the Chancellor and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh this week.
🔮 Oil produced from development near Shetland will be sold on the open market, while the gas produced off the Aberdeen coast will be used to meet domestic demand.
🔮 But reports suggest the Rosebank oil field, which has often been clubbed together with Jackdaw, could be rejected.
🔮 The Scottish Government has still not confirmed its move away from opposing oil and gas by publishing a finalised energy strategy, with reports this week suggesting it could be late 2027 before the document is released.
Also by Craig Paton
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 46 articles by Craig Paton →

Topics

North Lanarkshire Scotland Scottish the Scottish Government the Scottish Parliament

Subjects

Scotland GPE · 11× the Scottish Government ORG · 5× Scottish NORP · 3× the Scottish Parliament ORG · 3× Andy Burnham PERSON · 2× State ORG · 2× Holyrood ORG · 1× North Lanarkshire GPE · 1× Whitehall ORG · 1× the John Swinney PERSON · 1×

Narrative

He added that he, “of course”, would take the Prime Minister up on his offer of co-operation, saying: “I’ve got a track record throughout my political life of working to make sure as many powers as possible are exercised here in Scotland.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-16
🔮 Andy Burnham will head north on Friday to make a speech in North Lanarkshire, where he will urge the Scottish Government to work with Whitehall to push powers to local communities, though it is not clear if more powers could be devolved to Holyrood.

Claims (20 extracted, 5 hedged)

Andy Burnham will head north on Friday to make a speech in North Lanarkshire, where he will urge the Scottish Government to work with Whitehall to push powers to local communities, though it is not clear if more powers could be devolved to Holyrood. uncertain
powers → head → Holyrood
“The Prime Minister is very welcome in Scotland and I’ll be interested to hear what he’s got to say,” the John Swinney said. asserted
Swinney → hear → what
He added that he, “of course”, would take the Prime Minister up on his offer of co-operation, saying: “I’ve got a track record throughout my political life of working to make sure as many powers as possible are exercised here in Scotland. asserted
powers → add → Scotland
He added that he, “of course”, would take the Prime Minister up on his offer of co-operation, saying: “I’ve got a track record throughout my political life of working to make sure as many powers as possible are exercised here in Scotland. “I voted for the Scotland Act in 1998, so we could establish the Scottish Parliament. uncertain
we → add → Parliament
My participation in the Smith Commission got substantial extra powers delivered to Scotland, which has allowed us to tackle child poverty with measures such as the Scottish Child Payment. asserted
us → get → Payment
“So, I’m all for the Scottish Parliament having as many powers as it possibly can do, and I’ll work constructively to make sure we bring all those powers to Scotland.” uncertain
bring → ’m → Scotland
The First Minister’s comments come after Economy Secretary Stephen Flynn said the Government would listen to ideas put forward by the Prime Minister, but pushed for the powers for another independence referendum. asserted
Government → come → referendum
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland on Friday, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said the Prime Minister was coming to Scotland to make a “substantive and genuine offer to the Scottish Government to empower regions across Scotland”. asserted
Minister → speak → Scotland
“In Andy Burnham, we have a Prime Minister who’s not just an advocate of devolution, he’s actually been a practitioner of it as the Manchester mayor,” the minister said. asserted
minister → have → mayor
“So, in that sense, we recognise and respect the devolution settlement, and that’s why we’ve said let’s work together – Scottish local government, the Scottish Government, and the UK Government, to the betterment of Scotland’s regions. asserted
’s → recognise → regions
Read More “In that sense, it’s a genuine offer. asserted
it → read → sense
We want to work with the Scottish Government. asserted
We → want → Government
“I made a speech to Cosla last year, calling out what I called the grinding centralisation that we’d seen during the period of devolution. asserted
we → make → devolution
“I welcomed the fact that just a few weeks after that, John Swinney made a speech saying he wanted to put what are called regional economic partnerships on a statutory footing in Scotland. asserted
what → welcome → Scotland
“So, I think if we work together, there is common ground that we can find, and actually move forward. asserted
we → think → that
We all know that there’s lots on which we disagree. asserted
we → know → which
Just because we disagree on some things doesn’t mean that we can’t find ways of working together on other things.” asserted
we → disagree → things
But the First Minister launched an attack on the Scottish Secretary, further straining their already acrimonious relationship. asserted
Minister → launch → relationship
Asked about Mr Alexander’s claims the Scottish Government is “hoarding” power, Mr Swinney said: “The Secretary of State for Scotland is not a force for good in all this discussion, I’m afraid.” uncertain
I → ask → discussion
The First Minister rejected claims his Government was too centralised, adding: “The Secretary of State for Scotland doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.” uncertain
he → reject → what
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