Andy Burnham latest: PM U-turns on increase to personal tax-free allowance – UK Times

In an open letter to John Healey, Chris Blackhurst sets out why the new occupant of No 11 should seriously consider a ‘Robin Hood tax’ – a £500,000 annual wealth charge that would make Britain a magnet for the world’s mobile rich, and jumpstart the UK economy for everyone:

Sir Mel Stride has expressed fears that the new chancellor may be “captive to a prime minister who seems to want to go back to the 1970s.”

The shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride has said John Healey “has got a huge job ahead of him”, telling BBC Breakfast on Wednesday morning: “I think that John Healey has got a huge job ahead of him.

“Of course, I wish him well in that because we want that for the good of the country.

“But I fear that he is somewhat captive to a prime minister who seems to want to go back to the 1970s and huge spending and state intervention, higher taxes, higher borrowing, and all of that, which is what we’ve seen from Labour to date, but even more of it.

“Also constrained by his backbenchers, who do not have any appetite, particularly for welfare reform, which I think is key to the success of our economy.

“And I think under those circumstances, particularly with an economy that itself is very constrained now because of its mismanagement by Rachel Reeves over the last couple of years, I think he’s really got his work cut out.”

Andy Burnham has announced that most bus fares in England will be capped at £2 from January, as part of a wider blitz of policies aimed at tackling the cost of living.

Currently, the nationwide cap on single bus fares is set at £3 until the end of March 2027.

However, some areas – including London and Greater Manchester, where Mr Burnham set a £2 limit as mayor – have lower top rates for single tickets.“Good, affordable transport links are an essential.

No one should be priced out of those and left behind,” Mr Burnham said.

“But for too long people have said that cheaper transport isn’t an option. I don’t accept that. I’ve done it before and I will do it again now: a £2 cap on bus fares for millions across the country.

“Lower fares will help people get to where they need to – giving them breathing space to help with the cost of living.”

It comes after the new prime minister vowed that his government would give people a “sense that help is coming” in his first Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The measure is backed by £454 million of funding – including money to allow devolved governments to take similar action.

Andy Burnham has backtracked from suggestions about increasing the £12,570 tax-free personal allowance as part of his plan to tackle the cost of living.

The threshold has been frozen since 2021, meaning more people are dragged into paying tax as earnings increase as a result of inflation.

Speaking to The Times over the weekend, the new prime mininster said that the “frustration about the personal allowance” he had heard from voters while campaigning in the Makerfield by-election was “lodged in my mind”.

And on Monday, he told reporters that “all of this will be looked at” in the next budget but admitted any change would be expensive and “difficult given the financial circumstances in which we find ourselves”.

However, allies of Mr Burnham have now told the BBC that changes to the personal allowance are not part of his initial plan to tackle the cost of living.