{"id":125144,"date":"2026-09-05T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=125144"},"modified":"2026-09-05T03:22:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T02:22:28","slug":"andy-burnham-300-energy-bill-commitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/andy-burnham-300-energy-bill-commitment\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham Reveals First Step Towards Labour\u2019s \u00a3300 Energy Bill Commitment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The issue was raised during Burnham\u2019s first Prime Minister\u2019s Questions, when SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan<\/strong> asked when Labour would fulfil its commitment on bills. Burnham said the VAT decision represented an initial move, while his government prepares for its first Budget in October and continues to place the cost of living near the centre of its programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burnham Points to VAT Cut as a First Step on Energy Bills<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to The Guardian, Labour\u2019s commitment at the last election was that its policies would make energy bills \u00a3300 lower than they otherwise would have been, rather than providing a direct \u00a3300 reduction to every household. That distinction <\/strong>formed the background to Doogan\u2019s question to the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked when the government would deliver the promised reduction, Burnham referred directly to the VAT measure<\/strong>. \u201cWhen it comes to energy bills. I have acted already to bring in that cut on VAT on electricity bills<\/em>,\u201d he said. \u201cI recognise it\u2019s just a start, but I hope he sees that as a sign of intent.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Birmingham Mail, the tax cut was announced on Burnham\u2019s second day as Prime Minister and is valued at \u00a3850 million<\/strong>. Electricity bills will become VAT-free from the beginning of October, with households expected to save about \u00a345 a year as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burnham has presented the policy as part of a broader attempt to address household <\/a>finances. When announcing the measure, he said he wanted to give people \u201cbreathing space\u201d and described the action as an immediate reduction in taxes on energy bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Burnham says VAT cut is first step toward \u00a3300 energy bill pledge \u00a9 Shutterstock<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cost-Of-Living Policy Moves Towards the October Budget<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Burnham has told his Cabinet that he wants to lead a \u201ccost of living government\u201d, according to the Birmingham Mail. Ministers have also been told they should be prepared to \u201creprioritise\u201d the way departmental budgets are allocated as the government develops its economic plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public expectations remain a factor. Matthew Howlett<\/a>, research manager at Opinium, said most people did not expect Burnham\u2019s first major economic announcement to make much difference to the cost of living. The finding came from a poll of 2,050 UK adults <\/strong>conducted between 29 and 31 July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howlett said voters were also looking towards the government\u2019s first Budget in October. A majority, he said, believed that unfreezing the tax-free personal allowance would have a significant impact on their personal finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burnham has himself highlighted that issue. Speaking to The Times,<\/strong> he said he wanted his government to produce a \u201ctangible\u201d improvement for households and recalled that the tax-free personal allowance threshold was \u201cthe thing I heard the most on the doorsteps\u201d while campaigning in Makerfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, the government\u2019s announced action on electricity bills remains the removal of VAT from October. Burnham has characterised it as the beginning of his response to energy costs rather than the completion of Labour\u2019s wider commitment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has defended his government\u2019s progress towards Labour\u2019s pledge on household energy costs, pointing to the removal of VAT from electricity bills as the first measure taken since he entered Downing Street. The change is due to take effect from the start of October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":125147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125144"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125149,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125144\/revisions\/125149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}