Andy Burnham has indicated he is open to raising taxes once he takes office as prime minister, saying tough fiscal decisions lie ahead and that he may need to ask the public to contribute more.
Speaking to Gary Lineker on the Goalhanger podcast, Burnham said he wants to take time to properly assess the country’s finances before making decisions.
He declined to rule out a wealth tax, saying he wants a stronger sense of fairness in how the burden is shared, while stressing that any tough calls are still some way off.
He has committed to sticking with his party’s manifesto promises not to raise VAT, income tax or National Insurance, but his remarks suggest he may be weighing changes elsewhere in the tax system, potentially including aligning capital gains tax more closely with income tax rates. Burnham has previously argued that Britain has taxed jobs too heavily while taxing wealth too lightly.
The comments have drawn immediate criticism from opposition figures. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of planning fresh tax increases before even taking office, while Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick said Burnham had conceded tax hikes were coming without specifying which taxes would be affected.
OECD Warns Against Further Tax Increases
The remarks came the same day the OECD cautioned that Britain’s tax burden is already too high and urged the incoming prime minister to focus on spending cuts rather than additional revenue raising. The Paris-based organisation specifically called for a reversal of more than £12bn in tax increases introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, including the extended freeze on income tax thresholds, a stealth measure that pulls more earners into higher brackets as wages rise.
The OECD also urged ministers to reconsider the increase in employer National Insurance contributions, warning it was contributing to higher prices, and flagged concerns that expanded workers’ rights and a rising minimum wage could be undermining business competitiveness. It further warned that raising capital gains or property taxes, options reportedly favoured by some around Burnham, could do significant damage to growth given the UK’s already high property tax burden.
Separately, the organisation called for scrapping the pensions triple lock, warning that maintaining guaranteed annual increases could add tens of billions of pounds a year to costs over coming decades. It also raised alarm about rising youth worklessness, warning that a shrinking workforce could threaten the long-term sustainability of the state pension system.
Retailers and Think Tanks Add Pressure
The British Retail Consortium called for National Insurance cuts for younger workers and urged the government to abandon plans to eliminate the lower youth minimum wage, with the organisation’s chief executive warning that retail, traditionally an entry point into employment for young people, is struggling under billions of pounds in added costs.
The Resolution Foundation separately warned that the triple lock is already costing significantly more than if pensions had risen in line with wages, and said rising borrowing costs and inflation have shrunk the fiscal headroom available to the next chancellor.
Pensions minister Torsten Bell acknowledged that the government’s tax increases have had economic consequences, but defended them as necessary to sustain public services, arguing that underfunding services ultimately pushes costs onto businesses and communities in other ways. He also indicated the triple lock is unlikely to change in the near term.
Andy Burnham is due to be formally confirmed as Labour leader at a special party conference on Friday, with the transfer of power to Downing Street following three days later, on Monday 20 July.
