MANCHESTER, England, June 29 (Reuters) – Andy Burnham, the Labor MP who is expected to replace Keir Starmer as British Prime Minister, stated that his plans for the country are in line with the party’s manifesto for 2024, reiterating his commitment to a series of fiscal rules.
Fiscal rules, which include balancing current spending with tax revenues and reducing debt as 🏽 of GDP, are watched closely by financial markets.
Delivering his first speech since his return to Westminster in early June, which consolidated his position as Starmer’s likely successor, Burnham said on Monday that his plan for change “without taking risks with public finances, will seek to give the United Kingdom some breathing room”.
The changes he plans for the way the country is governed are “consistent with the 2024 manifesto”, he added.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party promised in its manifesto — a proposed program for government — before winning a landslide victory in the July 2024 election that it would not increase taxes on workers, including income tax, social security contributions or value-added tax.
Burnham said his plans will be “supported by the stability that comes from sound public finances… and the discipline of our current fiscal rules.”
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Last year there was concern among investors about Burnham’s approach to fiscal rules, after he said the UK needed to “get over this situation of being in the hands of the bond markets”.
