{"id":707780,"date":"2026-07-23T22:04:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/707780\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T22:04:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:04:23","slug":"new-prime-minister-andy-burnham-excludes-northern-ireland-from-all-three-of-his-new-flagship-cost-of-living-measures-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/707780\/","title":{"rendered":"New Prime Minister Andy Burnham excludes Northern Ireland from all three of his new flagship cost of living measures \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Burnham<\/a> is facing criticism after Northern Ireland was excluded from all three of the new Prime Minister\u2019s flagship cost-of-living measures.<\/p>\n

Mr Burnham has made \u201cbreathing space\u201d for struggling households the centrepiece of his first week in Downing Street, moving at speed to remove VAT from domestic electricity bills, restore the \u00a32 cap on single bus fares and cut business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues.<\/p>\n

But none of the three measures will apply in Northern Ireland with one blocked by post-Brexit trading arrangements and two by devolution.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said the new Prime Minister was continuing a pattern set by his predecessors.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSuccessive British governments have shown no interest in or concern for the people of the north of Ireland,\u201d the MLA said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAndy Burnham has the opportunity to change direction but it is abundantly clear that the interests of the people of Ireland \u2013 north and south \u2013 are best served on the island of Ireland by political representatives elected by and accountable to the Irish people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The VAT cut, the Prime Minister\u2019s first major policy decision, will remove the five per cent charge from domestic electricity bills in England, Scotland and Wales from October 1, saving the average household around \u00a345 a year at a cost to the Treasury of approximately \u00a3850 million.<\/p>\n

However, under the Windsor Framework, EU VAT rules continue to apply to electricity in Northern Ireland, meaning the cut cannot take effect here without agreement from Brussels. <\/p>\n

On transport, the cap on single bus fares in England will fall from \u00a33 back to \u00a32 from January 1 2027, at an estimated cost of \u00a3500m. The cap applies only to participating operators in England outside London, with fares in the north remaining a matter for the Executive and Translink.<\/p>\n

The third measure, announced on Thursday, will cut business rates by 20 per cent for around 32,000 pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England from next April, saving a typical pub an estimated \u00a31,100 a year. <\/p>\n

Rates are fully devolved, meaning the relief will not apply in Northern Ireland unless the Executive chooses to mirror it.<\/p>\n

The government has said that Stormont may receive some funding through the Barnett formula, hoewever, any potential money is not ring-fenced and can be used for any other purpose. <\/p>\n

Under the Barnett formula, Stormont receives a population-based share of any new spending on England-only services.<\/p>\n

Claire Hanna, the leader of the SDLP – Labour\u2019s sister party, admitted that the new PM\u2019s \u201cfocus is on England\u201d but said responsibility lay with Stormont.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the new Prime Minister has a long road ahead of him, and his focus is on England, he has shown in his first few days in office that governments can move quickly to deliver changes that make a real difference to people\u2019s lives,\u201d the South Belfast MP said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat stands in stark contrast to the Stormont<\/a> Executive, which has too often presided over drift and failure while blaming everyone but themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny Barnett consequentials arising from these measures must be used to deliver tangible benefits for people here, whether that\u2019s making public transport more affordable, supporting local businesses or helping families with the cost of living.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo often additional funding disappears into Stormont\u2019s financial black hole without people seeing any meaningful improvement in their daily lives. That cannot be allowed to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Burnham is expected to meet the First Minister and deputy First Minister when he visits Northern Ireland as part of a UK-wide tour in August.<\/p>\n

The Northern Ireland Office has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham is facing criticism after Northern Ireland was excluded from all three of the new Prime Minister\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[19306,59,57,58,50,10856,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-707780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-andy-burnham","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-stormont","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707780","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=707780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}