Andy Burnham weighing up bringing back 50p tax rate for wealthy workers in bid to balance budget

ANDY Burnham has opened the door to a manifesto-busting tax hike in a bid to shore up the “difficult” state of the public finances. The new Prime Minister refused to knock back the chance of bringing back the 50p top rate of tax to help ease financial pressures on low earners and pensioners. Andy Burnham appeared to open the door to a 50p top rate of tax Credit: AFP Mr Burnham wants to give workers “breathing space” as they deal with high bills Credit: AP His intervention came just after he arrived in Downing Street after vowing to give people some breathing space as they grapple with high bills. But the Labour manifesto says the party will not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! He was pushed over re-introducing the 50p rate as a way of paying for potentially raising the personal allowance which has been frozen at £12,570 for five years. He said: “Certainly, I heard issues related to the personal allowance more than anything on doorsteps in Makerfield. “I think it’s been frozen now, hasn’t it for a number of years, so it has dragged more people in – pensioners, I think – and that particularly I think has become a growing issue. “So all of this will be looked at though at the budget, and obviously it’s difficult given the financial circumstances in which we find ourselves. “But I wanted to recognise the point because it’s challenging for people and it’s people on the lowest incomes perhaps who’ve most been affected by that. “So it’s an issue that I’m just kind of showing I have a visibility of the issue and the impact it’s had on the different groups that I’ve mentioned, but it’s difficult because changing the threshold is not without significant consequences. But I’m looking at it.” Most read in The Sun The 50p rate was brought in by Gordon Brown but then cut to 45p under the coalition government in 2013. It comes after he told Gary Lineker in an interview that his government may have “to ask for a little more” tax. When quizzed further on whether the 50p rate was one of the things he was looking at, he said: “I think that would be just premature to say that. I’ve barely got my feet under the table.” Mr Burnham also stopped short of giving firm details on using the National Wealth Fund to fund cash going into infrastructure projects. The fund is financed through taxation and borrowing which could lead to jitters in the money markets. When asked whether doing more within the existing fiscal rules set out by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, he said he would use the “flexibility” within them. He added: “But we will stick to the existing rules and I’ve made that very clear in Downing Street. So none of this is about taking risks with the economy. I’ve never done that in any role that I’ve had. Mr Burnham added that he has always taken a “prudent approach”. He added: “We will show how it will be funded and that will be clearly set out in our budget.” Speaking on the steps of Downing Street, he spoke of helping out more Brits in an effort to beat the cost of living squeeze. He could bring down energy bills, reduce bus fares to £2 or even help workers ease the pain with rent controls. He said: “We are looking at measures that could make a difference this year. So we are looking at all of those things but we will make more announcements tomorrow. “We’re just finalising the details. It’s premature to say it will be any one of those particular things. We just want to do some things that people will feel and feel quite quickly. “It won’t solve everything, it won’t take all of the pressure off but it just shows the direction of travel and that we’re serious about helping them out.” Comment now