Cheery Andy Burnham’s like a flash geezer with a roll of fivers. Wherever he shows, the money just flows.
Cheerful Andy Burnham is always ready to splash some cash (Image: Getty)
Burnham started dishing it out almost the moment he entered Number 10. First he handed us a cheeky 5% VAT cut on our electricity bills. Then a quid off bus fares, lower business rates for the high street and a new disabled travel programme. Followed by cash for West Midlands buses, rough sleepers, NHS winter spend and now a £40million downpayment on slavery reparations to the Caribbean. He’s just started throwing it at the EU too. Of course he is.
A pattern is developing. Find a problem, identify the people making the most noise about it, then reach for his pocket. Need to calm an angry lobby group? A little cash might do it. Want to charm a needy voter demographic? Here’s a handout. Need to head off an awkward confrontation or simply play nice? There’s a grant for that. Whatever the problem, Andy reckons a few million quid can make it go away. At least for a week or two.
A spot of cash always comes in handy. It makes people happy, buys goodwill and crucially, makes the person handing it out look terribly generous. Burnham has barely been in power a few months, yet the money is flying around. This approach is catching. John Healey’s Budget was also marked by a string of small spending pledges.
Healey extended the electricity VAT cut extended to July. Gave 20million households £100 off their energy bills. Extended the fuel duty freeze. Gave a leg up to first-time buyers. Found more for rough sleepers, self-employed fathers and their partners, a northern Olympics bid and devolution. Money, money, money. Healey has got it, or did, and he’s also happy to spread it around.
Most of these giveaways are small beer in government terms. The exceptions are council house building and social care, which could run into tens of billions. But it’s the sheer volume of pledges that fascinates me. What’s his angle?
Sometimes I picture Burnham as a northern impresario, face plastered across a giant star with the slogan: “Everyone’s a winner! Handy Andy’s giving it away!”
Or maybe the cash-in-hand geezer at the market or in a slightly suspect pub. Pockets bulging with rolls of used fivers, licking his thumb, peeling a few off to keep everyone sweet.
Perhaps we shouldn’t complain. When Ed Miliband was given free rein under Keir Starmer, he didn’t sully himself with used fivers. He threw tens of billions around. That’s posh North Londoners for you. Cheeky, cheerful Andy Burnham deals in smaller amounts.
Burnham knows he can’t spend big, given his wafer thin fiscal headroom. But he’s a Labour PM, and has to be seen spending something. He’s banking on a stream of smaller giveaways to keep his profligate party onside.
When we paid by notes and coins, flashing your wad was the ultimate way to look flush. Burnham is buying popularity. With your money. Everyone’s a winner! Except taxpayers.