Blow To Burnham As Ally Warns PM Risks Liz Truss-Style Crisis If He Avoids Tough Choices

Andy Burnham risks a Liz Truss -style crisis unless he takes risks with his upcoming Budget , according to a prominent ally. Andy Haldane, former chief economist at the Bank of England, told The Times he thought Britain was “close to being taxed out and maxed out in terms of borrowing”. He said he fears the government will deliver a “mañana Budget” on Wednesday which put off difficult decisions and will not “speak to the urgency of now”.

Haldane claimed ministers do not understand how “precarious” the current situation is for the country right now. Haldane, who acted as an informal adviser when Burnham was the mayor of Greater Manchester, said the government must cut the size of the state and taxes to generate growth. He also said the prime minister cannot “vibe-code” his way to growth. Chancellor John Healey is set to unveil the first Budget of Burnham’s government on Wednesday.

He is expected to help poorer households with their energy bills and offer support for businesses while also freezing fuel duty. Haldane said Burnham had the potential to be a “great prime minister” with two terms in power, but the economy was his “blind spot”. He told The Times: “It’s not those who sit behind him. It’s probably not even those who sit opposite him in Westminster. Keir [Starmer] lost the dressing room. “Andy’s biggest risk is that he loses the dealing room.

And then that’s an even more painful way to go, as Liz Truss would tell you.” Former Tory prime minister Liz Truss was in office for a historically short period of just 49 days after she plunged the country into chaos with £45 billon of unfunded tax cuts. Her mini-Budget sent the pound into decline as inflation soared and mortgage rates spiked. The Bank of England had to step in to steady the markets and furious Tory MPs kicked her out of office after just seven weeks in Downing Street.

Asked for her response to Haldane’s warning on Sky News, housing secretary Angela Rayner said: “Well look, we’re in the room and we’ve been really clear. “You can see by the results of the IMF, we’re one of the fastest growing economies in the G7 alongside Germany –” Sky’s guest host Anne McElvoyy cut in: “The German economy is in a great deal of trouble.” But the cabinet minister replied: “We’re seeing one of the fastest growing economies in the G7.

“Not only were we singled out for having the best deficit deductions and we’re seeing investment coming through, whether that’s through house building or our green energy, that we are investing in British jobs for the future. “That’s giving confidence to the market, and our fiscal discipline, which is showing our economy’s resilience, not withstanding the global challenges many other economies are facing at the moment.” Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy.

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