Andy Burnham spent his first week announcing things that were crowd-pleasing. The £2 cap on bus fares. Pausing the early release of prisoners. Reductions in business rates for pubs. A six-month VAT cut on household energy bills.
Critics who argue the cash benefit of these measures is limited, or that it’s unclear how they’ll be paid for, have missed the point. These early days are a window – probably the only window – in which Burnham has a chance to define himself in voters’ minds. It may or may not work.
Week two has only just begun, and he is already wading into much more difficult waters, including on the future of council tax and stamp duty.
The man himself was circumspect in his big BBC interview, arguing that the current system is unfair and that there are “big decisions” to be made. Over the weekend, The i Paper revealed that a proportional property tax is under consideration, taxing everyone 0.48 per cent of their home’s value annually.
This proposal to reform what we pay to live in our homes will open a can of worms which could easily come to overwhelm his premiership.
