Burnham’s plan to cut energy costs was a good place to start – the problem is, his numbers don’t add up

VAT chance BRITAIN has some of the highest electricity prices in the world. So if Andy Burnham wanted to give households “breathing space”, tackling bills wasn’t a bad place to start. A gaping hole in the public finances on day one shows Andy Burnham the perils of coming into Downing Street without a properly worked-out plan Credit: Eddie Mulholland/Daily Telegraph/PA Wire Burnham will be aided by the appointment of John Healey as Chancellor Credit: PA The Treasury taking a £2billion hit to cut energy costs by around £45 may seem a small return but at least it’s a step in the right direction. The problem is that in the rush to prove he is on the side of families, Burnham’s numbers didn’t add up. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! They were brutally exposed by Darren Jones — one of the Starmerite loyalist ministers purged by the new PM — who revealed filling the cash gap by axing digital ID cards wouldn’t work because that scheme hadn’t been funded. A gaping hole in the public finances on day one shows the perils of coming into Downing Street without a properly worked-out plan. READ MORE FROM THE SUN SAYS Vibes alone simply won’t cut it amid the hard realities of Government. Burnham will be aided by the appointment of John Healey as Chancellor and the retaining of Pat McFadden at Work and Pensions. Both men know public spending must be cut and welfare radically reformed if the new PM is to deliver on his cost-of- living pledges. Yesterday’s energy VAT blunder and debt figures showing borrowing £2.7billion more than expected have already given Healey a headache. Most read in The Sun We can only pray that by the time of the crucial Autumn Budget, he will have helped Burnham get his costly ducks in a row. Net loss JOY at the removal of Ed Miliband from his Net Zero post has proved to be depressingly short-lived. It turns out his replacement Miatta Fahnbulleh is possibly even MORE of a climate fanatic than her former boss. She even wants to being the total decarbonisation of the UK forward to 2034 — an impossible target. Fahnbulleh also hates the idea of new drilling for oil and gas, and says any “distractions” from clean power “fail our children”. For eco loons, it’s a case of His Greenness is dead . . . long live Her Greenness. Neet loss YESTERDAY’S dreadful unemployment figures showed more than a FIFTH of adults of working age are on the jobs scrapheap. Once again, young people are bearing the brunt of the crisis. Andy Burnham is considering raising the income tax thresholds for low- income workers, delivering a tax cut of around £100 a year. It would be far better to cut National Insurance by 2p. That would cost the Treasury a similar amount but deliver a £250 tax break — and help to make work more attractive than benefits. Would that be too much to ask? Comment now