Senior Labour MP Peter Kyle has criticised Andy Burnham for not acting with sufficient urgency to improve Britain’s weak economic growth. Speaking before Burnham’s first party conference, Kyle said the UK remained in a “growth emergency” two years after Labour entered government, comparing the economy to a car travelling in the right direction but too slowly.

Kyle argued that ministers may need to accept short-term political difficulties to encourage investment and stronger growth, including reconsidering the timetable for expanded workers’ rights. He also proposed linking pay increases for MPs, ministers, senior civil servants and quango leaders to economic performance, potentially through real GDP per capita growth.