Andy Burnham, the man poised to become prime minister on 20 July, has signalled he could tweak business taxes and tighten access to welfare while ruling out any breach of Labour’s core manifesto pledges. In his first media interview since launching his leadership bid, Burnham told LBC’s Andrew Marr there was “some room within that manifesto for movement on tax”, specifically a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues paid for by higher levies on giant warehouses run by online firms like Amazon and on owners of empty high-street properties. “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 pledge not to raise VAT, income tax or national insurance remains unchanged from Labour’s 2024 general election manifesto. The Makerfield MP, who won a by-election last month, insisted he would not be “indisciplined” with the public finances, pointing to his record as Greater Manchester mayor and as a Treasury minister in the last Labour government. His comments came as Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of “running away from being asked questions” by hosting an “ask me anything” on Reddit, adding: “Reddit is easy, he can filter which ones he wants to answer, just look at the easy questions.”
On welfare, Burnham ruled out “crude cuts” to benefit levels – a clear reference, a senior ally said, to Sir Keir Starmer’s failed attempt to cut disability benefits, which was abandoned after a major Labour revolt last year. But the ally did not rule out reforming the conditions and eligibility for accessing benefits, alongside giving regional mayors powers and money to get people into work. “There will be no ill‑thought through cuts that just pop up elsewhere in the system as rising costs,” the ally said. The pressure on Burnham’s fiscal room is acute: Sir Keir announced a £15bn increase in defence spending this week without spelling out where the money would come from, meaning the next chancellor will have to find at least £4.7bn in savings from other departments. Burnham remains the only candidate in the race to replace Sir Keir as Labour leader, and the choice of who succeeds Rachel Reeves as chancellor will determine how those savings are found.
“Andy Burnham hints at business rates shift and welfare curbs while ruling out tax rises on VAT, income tax or NI.”