Economist Lord Jim O’Neill, who has been advising the prime minister, has said he will not be taking a job in Andy Burnham’s government.

As first reported by, external the Financial Times, Lord O’Neill, a crossbench peer who was once a treasury minister under the Conservatives, said he did not want the constraints involved in taking on a formal role.

The former chief economist at Goldman Sachs had been tipped to become Burnham’s chief economic adviser.

He said he was enjoying what he was currently doing too much and did not want to have to give up control of his business interests to comply with official rules.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he had “lots of other things that are going on that I very much enjoy” and, having been a minister before, he knew the job included “all the constraints that understandably go with it, like a blind trust and to abandon everything else you do, never mind the fact that it’s 24/7”.

In placing shares in blind trusts, ministers have no knowledge of how their investment is being handled, to avoid any potential conflict of interest.

He said he concluded he would rather be a voice to talk to and “get on with the rest of the things in my life”.

He earlier told the Financial Times it was “not because of any policy disagreements”, adding “I’m a massive fan of the focus on devolution and I hope Andy and his team will be bold on this and everything else.”

He pointed to Greater Manchester as an example of economic growth and said if you could repeat that around populated areas, “then national economic performance will improve”.

Asked by the BBC whether the new government in the upcoming October budget would need to raise taxes, Lord O’Neill said it was a choice for the prime minister and his team “based on the things they’re saying they want to do more of – defence spending is obviously the one that catches the eye”, among other things.

Pressed on whether the government could turn to something such as wealth taxes, Lord O’Neill said he was “not a fan of further increases in these kind of taxes, particularly as it relates to capital gains for genuine risk taking things like venture capital”.

He noted that the country has boosted government spending “dramatically” in recent years and needed a “more sensible approach to welfare spending under genuine welfare reform”.

From 2015-2016, Lord O’Neill was commercial secretary to the Treasury under the then-Chancellor, George Osborne.

The peer, who grew up in Greater Manchester, was a key figure in pushing the Conservatives’ Northern Powerhouse agenda, which was aimed at boosting the economy of the North of England.

Lord O’Neill is also known as the economist who coined the term Bric in 2001 to describe leading developing or newly industrialised countries with potential for fast growth and, therefore, investment returns.

The original four nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – later became the Brics when they were joined by South Africa.

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Following the power cut, an update from National Rail at 18:13 BST said the CrossCountry service between Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport will be running on Sunday evening.

The update also said the operator had been able to resume operating an hourly train service from Birmingham New Street to Leicester and Derby.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “Following earlier disruption on CrossCountry services, I am pleased to hear some trains are set to run tonight, and a full timetable expected to resume tomorrow.

“While passengers should continue to check their journeys before they travel, I’d like to thank engineers who are working tirelessly to minimise disruption as much as possible.

“We are setting up Great British Railways and nationalising services, including Cross Country next year, to end decades of fragmentation and vulnerability on our network. We are determined to give passengers the reliability they deserve.”

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has called for a review of railway operational control centres following the disruption, “to ensure they remain unaffected by power outages.”

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said passengers and rail workers should not have to face another week of “travel chaos” because of unreliable back-up systems.

East Sussex County Council (ESCC) stopped providing summer holiday supermarket vouchers for families which would have received free school meals support, after the changes to the government scheme. It says this means eligible families no longer automatically receive food vouchers over the summer holidays.

The change has been criticised by Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore, but council leader Andy Woolley said the new fund set up by the council “would provide support to households experiencing immediate financial hardship and to help build longer-term financial resilience, rather than providing universal holiday food vouchers to all families eligible for free school meals”.

Council’s across the country have set up similar schemes.

An ESCC spokesperson said £7.3 million will be spent over the next year supporting residents facing financial hardship including debt advice services, community food support, the expansion of holiday clubs with meals, and help for households with essentials like food and utilities.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said the CRF guidance “makes clear councils can use vouchers to support families with children on free school meals during the holidays and we have written to local authorities to confirm this”.

It added: “Authorities have the discretion to design their own schemes, within the CRF guidance, to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry.”

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Edward Close
MD, CEO & Executive Director

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for nib’s FY ’26 Full Year Results. I’m Ed Close, nib Group CEO and Managing Director, and I’m joined here in Newcastle by our Group Chief Financial Officer, Nick Freeman.

Before we begin, I’d like to acknowledge the Awabakal people, the traditional custodians of the land we are joining you from today. I pay my respects to elders past and present. We are pleased to report a solid FY ’26 group result with pleasing strategic progress, positive customer outcomes, a strong capital position and a more balanced contribution across our businesses. Our purpose of your better health and well-being continues to shape our strategy and guide our people to deliver sustainable value for our customers, shareholders and the communities we operate within.

nib is now a simpler, more focused and more efficient business with a clear emphasis on private health insurance and related services, supported by leading digital and AI capability, strong customer advocacy, our high-performing people and a disciplined approach to risk and capital management. This morning, I’ll cover the highlights, segment performance and strategic progress. Nick will then take you through the financial results in more detail before I return to discuss strategy and outlook. So if we head across to Slide 6, our FY ’26 highlights. It was a year of disciplined execution and meaningful strategic progress