ANDY BURNHAM hit back at “London-based” critics today as he opened a new government headquarters in Manchester, saying he wants to “get Britain hoping again.”

The Prime Minister hailed the opening of No 10 North at Heron House as the “best day of my life,” describing it was a “full-circle” experience for him, having had to leave north-west England to start his career.

Among those who joined Mr Burnham at No 10 North, a building which is also home to GCHQ’s Manchester and North West hub, were Chancellor John Healey, First Secretary of State Louise Haigh and the country’s top civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo.

Mr Burnham is expected to work from his new base in Heron House at least one day each week during his premiership.

He concluded his speech by rallying against “often London-based” critics who he claimed will see the project as a “gimmick,” before convening the first meeting of a revived national economic council (NEC), a body originally set up by Gordon Brown to deal with the fallout of the 2008 financial crash.

At the NEC meeting, held within No 10 North, Mr Burnham told England’s regional mayors the committee is “here for you, to empower you.”

He said that a separate, similar forum would be arranged with the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which he described as a “different form of devolution.”

The Labour leader said that “not all places have felt that they are part of the national story … and that is what No 10 North is all about: putting power in every postcode so that people can turn things around for themselves and make changes, just as this great city has done and the other English cities are doing through devolution, turning things round because of that ability to be able to do more for themselves.”

No 10 North is a “step in the right direction” to help tackle the issue of “too much power condensed into one postcode,” said the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North think tank’s Mirte Boot.