Andy Burnham leaves door open to revenue tax reduce for decrease earners as he pledges price of residing blitz

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to hit the ground running with a policy blitz in the coming days, including a package of cost of living measures to be unveiled on Tuesday

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Andy Burnham has left the door open to cutting income tax for lower earners as he pledges help for people squeezed by the cost of living.

The new Prime Minister is expected to hit the ground running with a policy blitz in the coming days, including a package of measures to help struggling Brits to be unveiled on Tuesday. He signalled he was looking at increasing the amount people can earn before they have to pay income tax but said a decision would be taken in the Budget. And he refused to rule out introducing a 50p tax rate.

Speaking to reporters shortly after entering No10, Mr Burnham said he would look at issues like rent controls, energy bill support and capping bus fares to help hard-pressed families, but said no final decisions had been taken. He also said he was determined to grip the crisis-hit social care system, saying: “We need to face it and fix it.”

The PM spoke to reporters shortly after delivering his first speech to the nation from outside Downing Street, where he promised a “circuit breaker for Britain” with a 10-year plan to fix deep-rooted problems. Flanked by cheering supporters, he stopped to hug his mum Eileen before he made his way in through the famous black door with his wife Marie-France van Heel.

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Speaking to reporters in the Downing Street garden, Mr Burnham said the tax-free allowance, which has been frozen at £12,500 since 2022, had come up more than any other issue on the doorstep in his Makerfield constituency.

He said: “It has dragged more people in – pensioners, I think – and that particularly I think has become a growing issue. All of this will be looked at though at the Budget, and obviously it’s difficult given the financial circumstances in which we find ourselves.

“But I wanted to recognise the point because it’s challenging for people and it’s people on the lowest incomes perhaps who’ve most been affected by that. So it’s an issue that I’m just kind of showing I have a visibility of the issue and the impact it’s had on the different groups that I’ve mentioned. But it’s difficult because changing the threshold is not without significant consequences. But I’m looking at it.”

Asked if he’d look at a 50p rate of tax to fund it, he said: “I think that would be just premature to say that. I’ve barely got my feet under the table.”

It would mark a departure from Labour’s manifesto, which committed not to raise the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.

Mr Burnham said he wanted to give families some breathing space through measures that would make a difference this year. Asked if he was thinking about issues like bus fares, energy bills and rent freezes, he said: “We are looking at measures that could make a difference this year. So we are looking at all of those things but we will make more announcements tomorrow.

“We’re just finalising the details. It’s premature to say it will be any one of those particular things. We just want to do some things that people will feel and feel quite quickly. It won’t solve everything, it won’t take all of the pressure off but it just shows the direction of travel and that we’re serious about helping them out.”

The PM also signalled that reforming social care would be a major priority after successive politicians have kicked the issue into the long grass.

He said: “I think the country needs to step back here and say, ‘How have we let a situation kind of just roll on, where we know it’s a major issue, and yet no one’s got the courage to fix it?’ I just think that’s quite damning really of my generation of politicians.”

He went on: “If I look at the National Health Service right now, what I hear from people is that corridor care is becoming the norm all year round, not just in winter time, and the standards in relation to A&E are just not achievable in terms of the 90-plus % of people coming through in four hours. And they say the biggest cause of that is broken social care because if there’s no barrier there at the front, how on Earth can the hospital system cope? And I know this from my dad, who has Alzheimer’s.”

Mr Burnham added: “I am ready to use some of my political capital on this issue. I’ll be blunt with you. I would not want to leave office having done what Westminster has done – not just for 15 years actually, I think you’re getting close to 30 years – It’s not defensible.

“How many people have lost their homes and their savings in that time? We need to face it and fix it.”