From 1h agoBurnham cuts tax on electricity bills in first major policy announcement as PMGood morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. Andy Burnham has announced an £850m tax cut on electricity bills to help ease cost of living pressures in his first significant policy announcement as prime minister. It means that electricity bills will be reduced by an average of £45 a year from October.Downing Street said the move will be partly funded by scrapping Keir Starmer’s digital ID scheme, which would have cost an estimated £1.8bn over three years. Because of Brexit, EU VAT rates apply on electricity bills in Northern Ireland so the cut will not apply there. Instead the Stormont executive will be given funding to implement an equivalent level of support. Announcing the policy, Burnham said:
double quotation markI said I wanted to give people breathing space, and that’s what I’m announcing on my second day as prime minister. We’re taking immediate action to cut taxes on energy bills, put more money in people’s pockets and bring back hope.
The newly appointed chancellor, John Healey, said the cut will “bring down inflation while supporting households in every postcode”, signalling the political direction of the new cabinet. While welcomed as a positive initial step to help people save money off their bills, the policy has been criticised, including by Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, for not going far enough.John Healey departs Downing Street as chancellor after being appointed to the position by the new prime minister, Andy Burnham. Photograph: Victoria Jones/ShutterstockIn an extraordinary intervention this morning, Darren Jones, Starmer’s former chief secretary, said the money had not been set aside for the digital ID scheme, which Burnham says will pay for the VAT tax cut. Jones, who was sacked as the Dunchy of Lancaster, wrote in an X post:
