Andy Burnham, the man widely expected to become prime minister later this month, has indicated there is “some room” for movement on tax – but insisted he will not break the core pledges Labour made in its 2024 general election manifesto. In his first media interview since announcing his bid to succeed Sir Keir Starmer, Burnham told LBC’s Andrew Marr that he would stick to the commitment not to raise VAT, income tax or national insurance. “I stick by the manifesto and the promises that it made,” he said. “So, let me be absolutely clear about that, but there is some room within that manifesto for movement on tax.”
The newly elected Makerfield MP suggested that business rates on giant warehouses – such as those operated by online firms like Amazon – could be increased to fund tax cuts for pubs, clubs, music venues and smaller high-street businesses. Under a proposal made last month during his by-election campaign, pubs, clubs and music venues would receive a 20% cut, while smaller independent hospitality, leisure and retail companies would see the threshold for paying business rates raised for the first time since 2017. The higher levies on warehouses, along with targeting owners of empty high-street properties, would pay for the cuts.
“Andy Burnham says there is 'some room' for tax movement but rules out breaking manifesto pledges on VAT, income tax and NI.”
Burnham, who remains the only candidate in the Labour leadership contest, is expected to take over as prime minister on 20 July. He defended his economic credibility, pointing to his record as mayor of Greater Manchester, where he said finances had been “rock solid”, and to his previous experience as a Treasury minister in the last Labour government. “I would not be indisciplined with the public finances,” he told Marr.
The interview comes as some on the left of the Labour Party have called for borrowing rules to be relaxed to fund more public spending – a move Burnham has resisted, despite past comments suggesting the UK needed to “get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets”.
One of the biggest challenges awaiting Burnham is how to fund an increase in defence spending. Sir Keir announced plans this week for a £15bn increase but did not spell out in full where the extra money would come from, meaning Burnham’s future chancellor – whoever replaces Rachel Reeves – will have to find at least £4.7bn in savings from other departments.
Later on Friday, Burnham is hosting an “ask me anything” session on Reddit. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of “running away from being asked questions”, adding: “Reddit is easy, he can filter which ones he wants to answer, just look at the easy questions.”