Top Burnham adviser calls for capital gains and inheritance tax hikes June 28, 2026 Andy Burnham’s top adviser has called for capital gains and inheritance tax to be hiked and the fiscal rules to be loosened so the government can borrow billions. Ex-transport secretary Louise Haigh, who led Burnham’s Makerfield campaign and is set to take a senior position in his Cabinet, is also pushing to dismantle the Treasury. [...]
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 [...]
Former Bank of England rate-setter to become next OBR chair June 23, 2026 A former rate-setter at the Bank of England and member of City AM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee is set to become the chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, the fiscal watchdog which has come under pressure from MPs and inadvertently leaked last year’s Budget. Jonathan Haskel, professor of economics at Imperial College London, will [...]
Burnham to lay out economic plan, but markets fear Miliband as Chancellor June 23, 2026 With more than three weeks to go before he can formally clinch the keys to 10 Downing Street, leadership challenger Andy Burnham is planning to make a major speech on the economy next week. It’s part of an effort to reassure the bond markets – to which he once said we shouldn’t be “in hock” [...]
OBR chiefs warn jostling Labour MPs against fiscal rules change May 19, 2026 Office for Budget Responsibility chiefs have warned Labour activists against changing the fiscal rules and overall framework to account for longer term impacts of government investment. The OBR’s David Miles and Tom Josephs said a ten-year forecast horizon would make for a “less credible” economic report and may not have any impact on bond investors. [...]
Louise Haigh doubles down on demand for OBR overhaul February 24, 2026 Former transport secretary and vocal soft-left backbencher Louise Haigh has issued another plea for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to overhaul the Office for Budget Responsibility a week before the Spring Statement. In a swipe at the Chancellor’s management of the UK economy, Haigh argued that mandating the watchdog to produce five-year forecast windows “risks entrenching decline”. [...]
Government urged to quit X following ‘appalling’ Grok scandal January 8, 2026 Keir Starmer has been urged to pull his government off Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, after a former cabinet minister dubbed the platform ‘unconscionable’. Labour MP Louise Haigh, former transport secretary, has warned that her party and the government should entirely quit the site. This pressure comes in the wake of this week’s reports [...]
Labour deputy leader hopeful slams Rachel Reeves’ ‘excessive deference’ to OBR September 8, 2025 The prominent backbencher and former transport secretary Louise Haigh, who is a frontrunner to become the deputy leader of the Labour Party, has taken aim at Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ “excessive deference” to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and adhering to “arbitrary fiscal targets”. Senior officials in the Labour Party are set to agree on [...]
‘A failed operator’: CrossCountry repeatedly missed own performance targets despite cutting services March 28, 2025 Struggling rail operator CrossCountry has repeatedly breached its own performance targets despite cutting services late last year as part of a recovery plan, City AM understands. The former Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, approved proposals by the operator to run a reduced timetable for three months between August and November after its performance was labelled “dire.” [...]
Train drivers seek to put ‘dent’ in cost of living in pay talks January 18, 2025 Train drivers in England will look to “put a dent” in the cost of living over the past few years when they negotiate their next pay settlement, according to the head of their union. Mick Whelan, general secretary of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef), told the i Paper any proposed rise [...]