Andy Burnham pledges not to increase income tax, VAT or NI

Speaking in an interview with Gary Lineker for Goalhanger, Burnham acknowledged that the Government faces difficult decisions over the public finances but pointed to Labour’s existing manifesto commitments, which rule out increases to the three main taxes paid by households.

While he declined to rule out changes to other taxes in the future, he suggested any decisions would come only after reviewing the state of the nation’s finances.

Income tax, VAT and National Insurance remain protected

Burnham has committed himself to Labour’s fiscal rules and indicated there is still room to make decisions within the party’s manifesto commitments.

That means Labour’s pledge not to increase income tax, VAT or National Insurance remains in place.

However, he did not rule out asking some people to contribute more through other parts of the tax system.

He said: “I’m not going to rule things out right now. I do believe we need a greater sense of fairness and people feeling that things are being done in the right way and a fair way.

“But at the same time, you know, I don’t want to sort of be perceived as somebody who’s coming in with grudges and agendas and, you know, going to just immediately find or demonise one group or create a new way of dividing people.”

He warned that balancing the country’s finances would not be easy.

He said: “Decisions to be taken in time, they’re going to be difficult. I’m not going to shy away from that. You know, we are going to have to work quite hard to make sure, you know, we can pay our way.

“And at some point that might be having to ask for a little more. But, you know, those decisions are not for now. They’re for another day.”

His comments leave open the possibility of changes to taxes outside Labour’s manifesto commitments, although no new measures have been announced.

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Burnham promises to be ‘upfront’ with Donald Trump

Burnham also discussed how he would handle relations with US President Donald Trump.

He said he would respect the office while being honest where the two leaders disagree.

Burnham said: “I’ll just meet him where where he’s at.

“I like to think I’ve got some personality myself and I’ll just, you know, I’ll deal with him very upfront in the same way.”

He also joked about Trump’s previous description of Manchester as “some town”, saying: “You know what Mancs are like, Gary, that won’t have gone down fantastically well in the city I used to represent.”