Skip to main contentSkip to navigation Close dialogue1/1 Next image Previous image Toggle caption Andy Burnham visits a pub and chats to the landlord as part of his campaign for the Makerfield byelection. Photograph: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters View image in fullscreen Andy Burnham visits a pub and chats to the landlord as part of his campaign for the Makerfield byelection. Photograph: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters Burnham pledges to review NICs increase and cut business rates for pubsLabour candidate in Makerfield byelection says party has ‘got it wrong on small businesses’ Andy Burnham has said he would consider cutting some employers’ national insurance contributions, and proposed a cut to business rates for pubs and small, family-run enterprises, in his first significant policy initiative during the Makerfield byelection.Burnham’s plans amount to a notable criticism of Keir Starmer’s policies in these areas. In his announcement on business rates, the Greater Manchester mayor said: “Labour have got it wrong on small businesses.”He has been wary of discussing concrete policy decisions, in part because of a desire to focus on the current contest, but also because he has said he would not want to go beyond what Labour promised in its election manifesto.But in an interview with the BBC’s Newsnight, Burnham said he wanted to reconsider the increase in employers’ NICs brought in at the 2024 budget, a…
Published: June 5, 2026 3:42 pm
Source: The Guardian — Read original