Lead

Andy Burnham has promised to ease the cost of living if he becomes prime minister, outlining plans to reduce business rates for some high street businesses, bring down water and energy costs by de-privatising companies, and make bus travel free for 16- to 18-year-olds. The Makerfield MP made the pledge in his first interview since returning to parliament, telling LBC that the measures would form part of an immediate cost-of-living package.

Burnham is widely expected to become prime minister later this month after his stronger-than-anticipated victory against Reform in Makerfield. He has pledged to stick to Labour's manifesto, but it is widely expected he will look at areas where the party could be bolder.

Coverage comparison

The Guardian reported that Burnham is being urged to adopt an "economic populist" approach to combating the cost of living crisis. A detailed opinion poll, carried out by Persuasion UK using the multi-level regression and poststratification (MRP) technique, shows that radical policies could help Labour retain its majority at the next election. The poll suggests Labour running on a platform of "cost of living populism" could win 34% of the national vote and 358 seats – a majority of 66.

In a separate report, The Guardian covered Burnham's specific promises, including his plan to reduce business rates for some high street businesses, his intention to bring down water and energy costs by de-privatising companies, and his promise to make bus travel free for 16- to 18-year-olds. Allies say the measures could include more radical steps such as freezing private sector rents.

The two reports share a common focus on the cost of living as a key issue for Labour and the public, but they differ in emphasis. The first piece is analytical, detailing the political pressures on Burnham and the polling evidence for a more interventionist approach. The second is more informative, presenting Burnham's own words and the specific policy measures he is considering.

Key claims

  • Burnham promised to ease the cost of living if he becomes prime minister, according to The Guardian.
  • He plans to reduce business rates for some high street businesses, as reported by The Guardian.
  • He intends to bring down water and energy costs by de-privatising companies, as reported by The Guardian.
  • He promised to make bus travel free for 16- to 18-year-olds, as reported by The Guardian.
  • A detailed opinion poll shows radical policies could help Labour retain its majority at the next election, according to The Guardian.
  • The poll suggests Labour could win 34% of the national vote and 358 seats, as reported by The Guardian.
  • The ideas road-tested in the poll included introducing an emergency brake on landlords raising rents, as reported by The Guardian.
  • Burnham has pledged to stick to Labour's manifesto but is expected to look at areas where the party could be bolder, according to The Guardian.
In his interview with LBC's Andrew Marr, Burnham said: "There is some room within [the 2024] manifesto for movement on tax. So if you take business rates, for instance, I believe there is a case for higher business rates on warehouses and the major developments we see on the outskirts of our cities, so that we can cut business rates for pubs."

He added: "Britain is paying too much for the basics. People are paying too much, but businesses are also paying too much, and that is certainly true of energy. What I would do, if successful, is lay out a plan for more public control over water, energy, transport, so that over the period we can get those bills down, fares down, and give people and give businesses breathing space."

Burnham's allies have urged him to freeze rents for a year, take green levies off energy bills and fund them through taxes instead, and reduce the cap on bus fares, according to The Guardian. The poll's findings suggest such policies would be popular with the public, with Burnham's promises of heavy political intervention likely to prove popular.

Enacting such promises, however, carries its own problems, including finding ways to pay for them, as The Guardian noted. The party faces a barrage of competing demands from Labour MPs, union leaders, political advisers and business lobbyists over Burnham's policy agenda, according to The Guardian.

The poll also suggested that if Labour stuck to its current trajectory, it could slump to its lowest number of MPs since 1918, with just 95 seats in parliament from 19% of the total vote share. The experimental poll, based on polling of about 10,000 voters, showed that adopting radical policy measures, including rent controls and higher taxes on wealth, could engineer a dramatic turnaround against Reform UK in important battleground seats.

Other ideas road-tested in the poll included an affordable energy guarantee, cheap bus fares, an expansion in free school meals to all primary-age children, and raising the rate of tax on investors' profits to the same rate as workers' wages.

Perspectives

Labour allies and advisers

The Guardian reported that senior figures advising Burnham are urging him to adopt an "economic populist" approach, with allies suggesting measures such as freezing rents for a year, taking green levies off energy bills, and reducing the cap on bus fares.

Burnham's own stance

In his interview, Burnham said he was committed to the 2024 manifesto but believed there was room for movement on tax, and he laid out his plans for more public control over water, energy, and transport.