HEALTH secretary Andy Burnham said London still holds too much of Britain’s opportunity and power, during a visit to Liverpool.

The cabinet minister attended a series of appointments in the city, including a question and answer session at St George’s Hall and the launch of an apprenticeship scheme at Aintree Hospital.

He also defended the Government’s response to the swine flu pandemic, which will be criticised in a House of Lords report due out today.

Addressing the audience at St George’s Hall, Mr Burnham said progress had been made in redressing the North-South divide, but admitted the Government still had far more to do.

The question and answer session was part of the public consultation on the Government’s plan, Building Britain’s Future. People had the opportunity to ask about Merseyside’s road to economic recovery, climate change, jobs, education and skills, affordable housing and health.

He said: “Too much in this country is dealt with by people in London . . . not enough policy is debated outside London.

“We don’t have institutions that are sufficiently accountable to all parts of the country and all views.”

He compared the situation graduates have found themselves in this year to the one he faced in 1991, when he finished university, due to the gloomy financial outlook.

He said: “I came to the conclusion that I had to leave the North West if I wanted to have a career . . . because I concluded there was not opportunity here.

“Things have changed, to some extent, but I still think we live in an uneven country.”

After the event, Mr Burnham said he would “robustly” defend the Government’s response to swine flu.