Burnham refuses to rule out tax rises in autumn Budget

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has refused to rule out tax rises in the autumn Budget, saying he will not be unrealistic about the state of public finances. He said the government would take a careful approach to the economy and that the first measures announced so far were funded by reprioritising spending. The comments came during his first visit to Ukraine, as questions continue over how major policies will be paid for.

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Burnham said the government had already made choices about where to direct money, including deciding that digital ID was not the top priority for now. He said that allowed funding to be moved to other priorities, and pointed to policies such as capping bus fares at £2 and cutting VAT on household electricity bills. Asked whether the public should expect new policies to be financed through tax rises, he said that would not necessarily be the case.

He added that he would always take a careful approach and would not take risks with jobs, livelihoods or family finances. The prime minister, who took office in July, has made cost-of-living support a central theme of his early agenda. He has said the measures announced so far are only the first steps and that more support may follow.

But he also acknowledged that the government is in a challenging position and that any further action will be carefully thought through and funded. The remarks underline the pressure on Burnham and Chancellor John Healey ahead of their first Budget on 28 October. The fiscal backdrop matters because the government has promised both immediate relief for households and longer-term reforms, including social care changes, while operating with limited room to manoeuvre.

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Experts have already warned that the first Budget leaves little financial flexibility. That makes the question of whether taxes will rise politically sensitive, especially after Burnham campaigned on giving people breathing space and helping with the cost of living. Burnham also used the interview to defend the way his administration has funded early pledges.

He said the government had been able to act because it had reprioritised money from elsewhere rather than adding to pressure on household finances. He said his approach in national office would be no different from his time running Greater Manchester, where he said he kept a tight ship with strong finances. The comments suggest the government is trying to balance visible support for households with a message of fiscal caution.

What remains unclear is which taxes, if any, could be affected in the autumn statement and how the government will pay for any further spending commitments. The scale of any reprioritisation, and whether it will be enough to avoid tax rises, is also unresolved. Attention will now turn to the Budget on 28 October and to any further signals from Burnham and Healey in the weeks before then.

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