Andy Burnham has suggested he will cut rail fares – despite Chancellor John Healey admitting the Iran crisis is hammering the public finances.
The PM delivered his latest hint at a giveaway by complaining that the cost of train travel is ‘outrageous’ and ‘in my sights’.
However, the comments – in an interview with the Mirror – come amid increasingly bleak signals about the Government’s books.
Soaring energy prices from the Iran war and lacklustre growth have left Mr Healey facing huge challenges in his first Budget on October 28.
That has been made even tougher by a flurry of seemingly unfunded policies announced since Mr Burnham entered No10, including trimming 5 per cent VAT from electricity bills and capping single bus fares at £2.
This weekend the PM and Chancellor wrote to Cabinet ministers warning them there is no new money for their departments.
But the scale of the shortfall and the grim international situation has fuelled alarm about more tax hikes looming – even though the burden is already headed for a record high.
Andy Burnham offered his latest hint at a giveaway by complaining that the cost of train travel is ‘outrageous’ and ‘in my sights’
Speaking to the Mirror, Mr Burnham said he was ‘looking across the piece’ for ways to ease cost of living pressures.
‘I think rail fares are too high, outrageously so in some instances. So that’s something that’s in my sights,’ he said.
‘I mentioned VAT and electricity bills. It’s a short-term measure at this moment, but let’s see where we can go with that.
‘Water is an issue as well, where I think the public pay high bills and they don’t see that money then going into infrastructure. There’s another area that needs reform.’
Mr Burnham also suggested he was considering action on standing charges – the flat daily fee added to utility bills.
He said: ‘I’ll take a look at that issue and other things that we might be able to do to help people with the cost of living. It remains a very tough time for people.’
Mr Burnham insisted he was ‘not giving people false promises, but being honest with them’.
Meanwhile, Mr Healey has vowed not to let supermarkets ‘take the public for a ride’ as the Iran war wreaks havoc at fuel pumps.
The former defence minister insisted he would be closely watching in a bid to protect the public from price gouging.
However, he also conceded that he could not ‘completely stop the squeeze’ on families and businesses amid the Iranian conflict.
‘Being frank, we can’t completely stop the squeeze that families and businesses will feel with a global shock of this scale,’ he added.
Soaring energy prices from the Iran war and lacklustre growth have left Chancellor John Healey facing huge challenges in his first Budget on October 28
He said the government would be ‘active’ and ‘hands on’, adding that they would put ‘British interests first’ and allow breathing space to those feeling the financial crunch.
It comes as the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham promised to give families and businesses ‘breathing room’ following a cost-of-living crisis that has lasted years.
Fuel costs skyrocketed earlier this year after Iran cut off access to the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.
Petrol prices are now at their most expensive since 2022, with unleaded having reached 160p per litre, according to the RAC.
