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Burnham’s first-week pledges
Andy Burnham, newly installed as UK prime minister, pledged more than £1.5bn in spending during his first week, while charging his Cabinet with “getting that cost of living down”.
In his debut speech in Downing Street, Burnham promised to “put the care of people at the heart of everything” he does in Government and said his “first instruction” would be “to end rough sleeping in our country”.
The BBC said the rough sleeping plan would cost £340m over five years and support at least 3,000 people, funded from existing “uncommitted” budgets in the housing department.
The BBC also said Burnham announced a VAT cut from domestic electricity bills costing £850m in 2026-27, and a £2 bus fare cap in England from 1 January 2027 costing the Department for Transport more than £500m.
The BBC added that Burnham ended his first week working out of Manchester in the new No 10 North, based at Heron House in the city centre, which Downing Street described as a “situation room for making Britain better”.
Funding fights and resignations
The Guardian reported Burnham urged his cabinet to examine “all possible ways” to tackle the cost of living crisis, while facing questions about how he would pay for the removal of VAT from electricity bills and an expected uplift in defence spending.
The BBC said VAT removal was described as unfunded in the current financial year, with the Treasury cutting VAT from domestic electricity bills and estimating the policy would cost £850m in 2026-27.
The Guardian said Burnham’s promise to pay for the VAT cut by scrapping the government’s digital ID scheme was immediately called into question by Darren Jones, who posted on X: “The DigitalID program was unfunded”.
The Telegraph described a separate row over unfunded commitments, saying Burnham delayed major tax and spending decisions until the Budget after confusion over plans to raise the £12,570 tax-free personal allowance.
The Telegraph also reported that Wes Streeting refused to commit to increasing UK defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP, stressing it was “a matter for the Chancellor”.
What’s at stake next
As Burnham’s early agenda moved from announcements to implementation, the BBC said the £2 bus fare cap in England would be set from 1 January 2027, with the government estimating it would cost more than £500m and most of it funded by replacing grants for international climate projects with loans.
The BBC said the government claimed the VAT cut would be paid for by scrapping the previous government’s digital ID scheme, which had been estimated to cost £1.8bn over the next three years, while the Office for Budget Responsibility had said the digital ID scheme was “unfunded”.
The BBC also said the government announced a cut in business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues in England by 20% from April 2027, saving a typical pub £1,100 and costing the Treasury around £100m a year.
In parallel, the Guardian said No 10 ruled out using defence bonds to pay for higher military spending and that a spokesperson added it was “not something we’re looking at”.
The Guardian further said Burnham was working on a major social care announcement in the coming weeks as he looked to begin laying the groundwork for a social care service before the election, with Louise Casey due to report by 2028 but likely to do so as soon as next year.
