Burnham hosts devolution summit in Glasgow without Northern Ireland's first minister
Prime Minister Andy Burnham hosted a devolution summit in Glasgow on 30 October 2026 to discuss what the Guardian reported as the "next stage of devolution". Devolution means moving powers that sit with the UK government in London to the governments closer to home, in this case those of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney and Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth were due to attend. Northern Ireland's First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, did not attend after the Democratic Unionist Party vetoed her attendance over a row about Drumcree, and officials went in her place, according to the same live coverage.
Before the meeting, Burnham said he wanted to offer "regional empowerment" and to develop models of it with the government of each nation. In his pre-summit statement he said "Through No 10 North, we are rewiring the state", adding that every city and region in the UK should be part of that.
Swinney urged Burnham to devolve more powers from London to Edinburgh, rather than focus on moving power from Edinburgh to Glasgow. In his own pre-summit statement, Swinney said the UK government must ensure its devolution proposals respect devolution in Scotland, and that it should work with the Scottish government to deliver further devolution to grow Scotland's economy.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) is calling for the Scottish parliament to gain power over taxation, immigration, employment law and energy policy. The party's long-term goal is full Scottish independence.
The summit follows a speech Burnham gave in Glasgow on 16 October 2026, according to the UK government's record of the event. In that speech he invited the Scottish government to work together to put "power back in the hands" of regions, and invited Swinney to work together on deeper devolution, as BBC News reported.
Wales, where Plaid Cymru won the Welsh elections in May, was also represented at the meeting by its first minister.
