From stamp duty to the triple lock, Andy Haldane says bold Burnham leadership can usher ‘vibe change’ for UK economy June 26, 2026 Andy Haldane is pressing for a radical shake-up of the UK’s tax and wider economic systems as he heaped praise on the Prime Minister-to-be Andy Burnham for having the potential to bring a “change in vibe” across Britain. Haldane, who is advising Burnham on economic policies and growth, urged the country’s next leader to be [...]
Burnham camp goes quiet on hospitality VAT cut June 25, 2026 Allies of Prime Minister-to-be Andy Burnham have gone quiet on whether he would slash VAT for hospitality despite previously backing calls to do so and committing to a raft of other measures to support pubs, restaurants and bars. The outgoing Mayor of Greater Manchester had previously said he would back calls to cut value-added tax [...]
Burnham adviser floats higher tax on pension funds’ overseas investments June 25, 2026 One of Andy Burnham’s economic advisers has warned of ‘foreign raiders’ snapping up Britain’s most promising start-ups as he suggested the government should more heavily tax domestic pension funds investing overseas. Andy Haldane, the former Bank of England chief economist who is now the president of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said tax reliefs [...]
‘I have more to do’: Reeves campaigns for Chancellor role under Burnham June 25, 2026 Rachel Reeves said she has “more to do” as Chancellor as she pitched staying in her job to business leaders despite speculation she will be dumped from the role by Andy Burnham. Reeves said she had brought “stability” to the UK economy and added she was “proud” of her record on inflation and growth. The [...]
Revealed: Secret Treasury plan to tax State Pension before it is paid out June 25, 2026 The Treasury is drawing up plans to automatically withhold income tax from the State Pension before it is paid out to recipients, City AM can reveal, in a move which flies in the face of previous assurances by Chancellor Rachel Reeves that she would not “go after” elderly Brits with fresh tax demands. The proposal, [...]
London councils won’t be able to sue their way to more homes being built June 25, 2026 Last week I asked the chief executive of one of the country’s largest housing developers to sum up the state of housebuilding in London, and the answer was “dire.” If I’d allowed two words I suspect one of them would have been unprintable. The situation is so disastrous that Sadiq Khan was forced to lower [...]
Zack Polanski: I have a ‘serious vision’ for UK businesses June 25, 2026 Green Party leader Zack Polanski will tell business leaders at a conference on Thursday that he will deliver “clarity, stability and serious vision” for the UK economy. In what will be his most significant address to bosses since becoming leader, Polanski is expected to recognise that private sector executives “might have some preconceptions” yet he’ll [...]
Starmer defends ‘treacherous’ Reeves and Miliband despite Badenoch jibes June 24, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer jumped to the defence of senior Cabinet ministers Ed Miliband and Rachel Reeves despite brutal attacks by the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. In one of his last Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer defiantly stood by the Chancellor, who sat on the front bench alongside him, and praised her for “breaking from austerity” and [...]
Burnham coronation closer yet Starmer ally raises alarm on borrowing June 24, 2026 Andy Burnham’s path to Downing Street has been all but cleared after Darren Jones ruled out entering a leadership race, spilling over to further speculation over the look of the next government’s Cabinet. Jones, a close ally of Sir Keir Starmer, was rumoured as a potential challenger to Burnham but the chief secretary to the [...]
What if Andy Burnham had become Labour leader in 2015? June 24, 2026 On his third try, Andy Burnham looks all but certain to become Labour leader. But what if he had taken the reins of the party eleven years earlier? Matt Kenyon imagines an alternative timeline… 2015 It’s a world that looks a lot like our own. There’s just one, seemingly minor, difference: A cluster of well-meaning [...]