Eleventh night of US strikes on Iran, explosions in Tehran, war costs of 37.5 billion dollarsZelensky dismisses army chief Syrskyi and appoints DrapatyiUkrainian drones hit Russia's economy as the Kremlin hardens territorial demandsOpenAI AI agent hacks Hugging Face on its own during a testChina pushes an open-source offensive at the World AI ConferenceFrance becomes the first EU country to ban social media for under-15sTrump approves nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that could allow enrichmentTrump announces tariffs on generic drugs from 2028Trump imposes 50 percent tariff on Canadian goods, joint bridge ceremony cancelledJapan's bond market under pressure: strong demand for 40-year bonds, weak yenIndia's cockroach protests continue, Rahul Gandhi briefly detainedNew British Prime Minister Burnham promises relief on the cost of livingNew tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China SeaNicaragua's President Ortega cancels future electionsCyberattack paralyzes Romania's land registry and property marketNew York Mayor Mamdani admits he cannot arrest NetanyahuEleventh night of US strikes on Iran, explosions in Tehran, war costs of 37.5 billion dollarsZelensky dismisses army chief Syrskyi and appoints DrapatyiUkrainian drones hit Russia's economy as the Kremlin hardens territorial demandsOpenAI AI agent hacks Hugging Face on its own during a testChina pushes an open-source offensive at the World AI ConferenceFrance becomes the first EU country to ban social media for under-15sTrump approves nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that could allow enrichmentTrump announces tariffs on generic drugs from 2028Trump imposes 50 percent tariff on Canadian goods, joint bridge ceremony cancelledJapan's bond market under pressure: strong demand for 40-year bonds, weak yenIndia's cockroach protests continue, Rahul Gandhi briefly detainedNew British Prime Minister Burnham promises relief on the cost of livingNew tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China SeaNicaragua's President Ortega cancels future electionsCyberattack paralyzes Romania's land registry and property marketNew York Mayor Mamdani admits he cannot arrest Netanyahu

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New British Prime Minister Burnham promises relief on the cost of living

Britain's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has, in his first cabinet, announced the scrapping of the value-added tax on electricity from October. John Healey becomes finance minister. Critics compare his plans to the failed course of Liz Truss.

Britain Cost of Living

New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham placed the fight against high living costs at the center of his first cabinet meeting. As a first measure, he announced scrapping the five percent value-added tax on electricity from October, funded by ending the digital ID project of his predecessor Starmer, as the FAZ and the BBC report. He named John Healey as finance minister, which conservative and business-minded outlets such as Le Figaro and the Financial Times read as a signal to the markets. Critics, including Starmer himself, warn, according to the BBC, that Burnham's economic plans could fail like Liz Truss's program. The liberal Politico points out that Burnham is also courting voters of Nigel Farage's right-wing populist Reform party. The left-wing taz sees the new Labour government facing enormous problems. Whether the relief measures are affordable and the reindustrialization promises will hold is disputed.

Sources

FAZPolitico EuropetazBBC NewsFinancial Times

Forecast · Assessment

Most likely55%
Burnham implements some initial popular relief measures but quickly runs into fiscal limits.
Worst case20%
His spending plans unsettle the markets and trigger a financial crisis like the one under Truss.
Best case25%
The reforms cut costs noticeably and stabilize Labour's support.