Burnham promises to ‘build new economy’
Andy Burnham has vowed to “build a new economy” in his first speech as Prime Minister, promising to announce a raft of measures to help households with the cost of living as soon as tomorrow.
Speaking on the steps of Downing Street, the new Labour leader said his government would put life’s essentials “back under stronger public control” and revive the country’s industrial heartlands, all while committing to previously announced defence pledges and “bring the welfare bill down”.
“We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years, a new political model and a new economic model,” Burnham said, adding: “We will take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land, so that they can do more, and in doing more, build a new economy where we put life’s essentials back under stronger public control.”
The remarks were the former Manchester mayor’s first as Prime Minister, having been sworn in to the highest office in the country by the King just minutes before addressing the country. Keir Starmer formally tendered his resignation earlier on Monday, telling voters that “his work was done” and that it had been the “privilege of [his] life” to serve in Downing Street.
The flare-up of hostilities in the Middle East means Burnham faces a grim economic inheritance. The UK’s borrowing costs remained elevated throughout his first morning as Prime Minister, after a weekend in which the US announced two more nights of strikes and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz ground to a halt.
The 10-year gilt yield was trading at just below five per cent at the culmination of the former Manchester mayor’s speech, kept high on fears that the oil shock will further stoke inflationary pressures in the economy.
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