{"id":706639,"date":"2026-07-23T06:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T06:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/706639\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T06:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T06:54:13","slug":"he-knows-what-hes-doing-burnhams-off-the-cuff-remarks-inspire-headlines-and-headaches-andy-burnham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/706639\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He knows what he\u2019s doing\u2019: Burnham\u2019s off-the-cuff remarks inspire headlines and headaches | Andy Burnham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before he became Britain\u2019s prime minister, Andy Burnham promised to \u201cdo politics differently\u201d<\/a>. Just three days into his time in Downing Street, that approach is already being put to the test.<\/p>\n

In the last two days, the prime minister has been accused of performing U-turns over raising the income tax threshold, raising taxes for higher earners and freezing private sector rents.<\/p>\n

The minor controversies are mostly a function of the fact Burnham has come into office with a rare combination of not having fixed his policy platform and a habit of speaking openly about his ideas before they are fully formed.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, for example, Burnham said<\/a> that while he was campaigning in the Makerfield byelection which secured his return to parliament, he had heard more complaints about the income tax threshold than any other issue. This prompted speculation he would raise it once he became PM.<\/p>\n

Reports on Tuesday suggested he had ruled it out, only for him to clarify on Wednesday<\/a> that it was still an option. As he did, Burnham expressed surprise that people had put so much stock in his original comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny these days you can\u2019t answer a question honestly without then people reading everything else into it,\u201d he told broadcasters. \u201cI want to answer questions honestly in this job, as I said before. I think that\u2019s all about trust in politics and doing politics differently, and I\u2019m determined to keep working in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt\u2019s just perhaps the way politics is these days and the way people report things, but that was an honest answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

A similar scenario played out over the issue of freezing private sector rents. Asked by reporters on Monday if such a move could be part of his package to tackle the UK\u2019s cost of living crisis, he replied: \u201cWe\u2019re looking at all of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AndyAndy Burnham pledges to address cost of living in first speech as UK PM – video<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, however, it was reported<\/a> that officials were not actively considering such a move.<\/p>\n

Burnham has also kickstarted an unexpected debate<\/a> on releasing prisoners early, saying he would review the policy, which has been one of the government\u2019s main tools for easing overcrowding in prisons.<\/p>\n

\u201cAndy appears to have just realised he is the prime minister,\u201d said one Labour<\/a> official. \u201cHe is a talented communicator and he is right that the media spins messages and this can be a hostile environment. But it is his job to go into that with his eyes wide open.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t fought an election or had much scrutiny, and so people are desperately trying to understand what his priorities and platforms are.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many, Burnham\u2019s approach is a necessary response to the buttoned-up way in which his predecessor, Keir Starmer<\/a>, used to speak and to the modern media environment which demands authenticity above discipline.<\/p>\n

His open, conversational style worked well as Greater Manchester mayor, when reporters became used to his off-the-cuff comments during press conferences, and he seems determined to bring the same outlook to Downing Street.<\/p>\n

Andy Burnham is met by a large crowd of MPs after his swearing-in at the Houses of Parliament on 22 June. Photograph: Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not an idiot,\u201d said Sean Kemp, who advised the former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and is now a partner at the political comms firm Hanbury Strategy. \u201cHe knows what he\u2019s doing, but he doesn\u2019t care, and he\u2019s going to keep on saying it. And he\u2019s done it so much now, I\u2019m starting to think now that he\u2019s decided this is just how he does things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The approach is also reflected in the media he uses to communicate. He has already shown his willingness to use mischievous social media posts<\/a> to get his message across, and took part in an online question-and-answer session on Reddit shortly after winning the Makerfield byelection.<\/p>\n

But the chances of being misunderstood were highlighted in another post-Makerfield interview, with the England footballer turned podcaster Gary Lineker. In comments that were interpreted by some<\/a> as leaving the door open to a wealth tax and others<\/a> as ruling it out, he said: \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the same time, you know, I don\u2019t want to sort of be perceived as somebody who\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnham\u2019s desire to bypass traditional political journalism is not new, say political communication experts. But it does carry risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think every single prime minister in the last 25 years has tried to do that,\u201d said Kemp. \u201cThen they realise that these are the people reporting day to day on what you are doing, and still, to a great extent, are setting the parameters of how you\u2019re viewed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guto Harri, who was once the communications director for the former prime minister Boris Johnson, said: \u201cHe\u2019s not an ordinary person any more, he is the first lord of the Treasury and the prime minister of Britain.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if he says these things, it is reasonable for the people who hear him to think something will follow. And if something doesn\u2019t follow, then people are likely to become cynical quite quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before he became Britain\u2019s prime minister, Andy Burnham promised to \u201cdo politics differently\u201d. Just three days into his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-706639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}