Andy Burnham to Launch Publicly Owned Great British Grid as Labour Conference Opens With Triple-Lock Row

Prime Minister Andy Burnham will use his first leader's speech to the Labour Party conference on Tuesday to promise an end to "politics as usual", unveiling a publicly owned Great British Grid to bring down energy bills, and setting out his long-held ambition for free social care in England, all against the backdrop of a growing cabinet and union row over the future of the pensions triple lock.

Burnham, who became Labour leader and prime minister in July, will address delegates in Liverpool at 2pm under the conference slogan "Hope again". Advance briefings of the speech indicate he will frame the address as an "honest conversation" with voters about the difficult issues Westminster has avoided for too long.

Key facts

• What: Andy Burnham's first leader's speech to the Labour Party conference as prime minister, in Liverpool.
• When: Tuesday 29 September 2026, 2pm BST.
• Main announcement: a publicly owned "Great British Grid" under the Great British Energy umbrella, the first publicly owned competitor in electricity networks since the privatisation era.
• Funding: the body will have access to a £4bn pot previously allocated to Great British Energy to invest in the network, speed up grid connections and accelerate the rollout of renewables.
• The row: growing speculation that the pensions triple lock could be reformed after the next election to help fund free social care, opposed by Unite's Sharon Graham, who calls it "electoral suicide".

A publicly owned competitor in the energy market

The centrepiece of the speech is the launch of Great British Grid, which ministers say will be the first publicly owned player in electricity networks since the system was privatised under Margaret Thatcher. It marks another step in Burnham's stated ambition to bring Britain's utility companies back under public control.

According to briefing reported by The Times, the new body will be set up under the Great British Energy umbrella and given access to a £4bn pot previously allocated to Great British Energy, although it is not expected to use all of that money. It will compete for network work with private companies including National Grid, while using public funding to speed up connections for businesses and new projects and to hasten the rollout of renewables across the UK.

Burnham is due to say: "We have an energy system where prices are dictated in markets miles away, while families and businesses here shoulder the costs. Once again, the British public has lost control."

"Within ten years, I want our energy costs to be in line with other nations in Europe. That means we must reform a broken energy market so it serves the public interest."

Why energy prices are the backdrop

Britain has long suffered from electricity prices well above those of most European neighbours. Figures from the energy consultancy Aurora, reported by The Times, put the average domestic electricity cost for the UK at 34.54p per kWh last year, higher than anywhere in Europe except Germany and Ireland. Surging global prices, driven by geopolitical instability, have aggravated structural problems in the UK system, including heavy reliance on gas and a marginal pricing model in which wholesale gas often sets the price of electricity.

Warnings over energy costs have sharpened this week, with The Times reporting fears of diesel rationing before the end of the year as global supply chains remain strained. That context gives Burnham's grid announcement an urgency his team will be keen to emphasise.

The triple-lock row overshadows social care plans

Burnham is also expected to flesh out his plans for free social care in England, an ambition he has pursued since his time as health secretary under Gordon Brown, when his proposal to fund care through a levy on estates was condemned by opponents as a "death tax" and collapsed after Labour's defeat in the 2010 election. He has previously said he is willing to spend his political capital on fixing the system, and told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg he wants his speech to set out a "vision" for an NHS-style social care system, free at the point of use.

A review of social care led by Louise Casey has yet to report, and Burnham has indicated his detailed funding proposals will be put before voters in Labour's next manifesto.

But it is how that system might be paid for that has ignited the week's most politically dangerous row: growing speculation that the pensions triple lock, under which state pensions rise each April by the highest of inflation, average earnings or 2.5 per cent, could be reformed or scrapped after the next election.

Union warning: "electoral suicide"

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, one of Britain's largest unions, has warned Burnham in the bluntest terms. "I think it would be almost electoral suicide. Morally, I just don't think it's the right thing," she told The Times.

"We're the lowest in the G7 in terms of how much we spend on pensions. I think that's an embarrassment, quite frankly, because we're one of the six richest economies in the world. I think it would be an absolute disaster, it would send completely the wrong message. I cannot understand why we keep going back to pensioners."

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Graham added that taking money from people receiving around £12,500 a year to pay for social care was "morally wrong", and urged ministers to consider wealth taxes before touching the triple lock.

Cabinet divisions exposed

The row has exposed divisions at the top of government. Bridget Phillipson has warned of the risk of "intergenerational warfare", while Douglas Alexander, the Scotland secretary, told Times Radio that young people were getting a "really raw deal" and that ministers would "have to balance all of these questions over the coming years".

Chancellor John Healey repeatedly declined to rule out dropping the triple lock, telling ITV News that "the prime minister has got more to say" and that reforming social care was a "top priority" for Burnham. Deputy leader Lucy Powell, however, has insisted the party is committed to the triple lock for this parliament: "I can absolutely assure your viewers watching this that we are committed to the triple lock, it's in our manifesto," she told BBC Breakfast.

According to The Times, senior government sources say Burnham is expected to address the issue of reforming the triple lock after the next election, launching a pre-election debate rather than announcing abolition. In an LBC phone-in on Monday, the prime minister accepted there was a chance voters might simply say no.

Conference context: Miliband's foreign policy reset

The conference has already heard a significant foreign policy speech from Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who told delegates the government had reset its approach to Israel and Palestine. Addressing the millions who protested over Gaza and criticised Labour's previous position under Keir Starmer, Miliband said: "we hear you, you were right."

He condemned the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 but said they did not justify the suffering inflicted on Gaza and the West Bank, which he described as "a stain on the conscience of the world". He described Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank as "ethnic cleansing", cited "evidence of war crimes in Gaza", and called Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal.

"The only route to peace is two states, a secure Israel and a secure Palestine, with freedom, dignity and self-determination for both peoples," he said. The policy changes include the suspension of selected arms export licences in 2024, bans on goods imported from illegal settlements, and targeted measures against individuals and companies profiting from settlement activity, coordinated with France and Canada.

Known and unknown

Known: Burnham will announce Great British Grid with access to a £4bn GB Energy funding pot; he will restate his commitment to free social care in England; he intends an "honest conversation" about funding, including the triple lock after the next election.

Unknown: how far he will go in signalling reform of the triple lock in the speech itself; the detailed funding mechanism for free social care, which awaits both the Casey review and the next manifesto; whether the Great British Grid can deliver the promised decade-long convergence of UK energy costs with European levels.

What happens next

All eyes are on the 2pm speech. If Burnham uses it to open a pre-election debate on the triple lock, he will be picking a fight with his own union movement and a significant section of the parliamentary party. It would be a gamble that the public can be persuaded that reforming an expensive pension guarantee is a price worth paying for transforming adult social care.

The reaction from business and the energy industry to Great British Grid will also be closely watched, as will any further detail from the energy secretary on how the new body will operate alongside National Grid and private network operators.

Conclusion

Burnham's first conference speech as prime minister is the defining political moment of his young premiership: a promise to end "politics as usual" paired with concrete moves on energy and social care, plus an honest acknowledgement that the money has to come from somewhere. Whether voters, and his own party, accept the trade-offs he is preparing to name will shape the remainder of this parliament.

Sources

• The Times: "Labour splits emerge over scrapping pensions triple lock", thetimes.com
• The Times: "Andy Burnham to launch GB Grid to fix 'broken' energy market", thetimes.com
• The Times: Labour conference live blog, thetimes.com
• Alliance News via Morningstar (PA wire): "UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham vows to end 'politics as usual'", morningstar.com
• Brit Brief: "Union boss warns Burnham against scrapping triple lock for social care", britbrief.co.uk
• TBS News: "Miliband says UK has reset approach to Israel and Palestine", tbsnews.net