37 ways Andy Burnham could raise £4.7bn
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Keir Starmer announced £15 billion of additional defence spending – £4.7bn of that is currently unfunded. That leaves Andy Burnham, expected to become Prime Minister, with a problem. Where is he going to find £4.7bn? One answer would be to cut spending. However, I expect the politics are such that Mr Burnham will not do that. I also expect he won’t increase borrowing – that seems unattractive/expensive at current gilt rates. It seems most likely Mr Burnham will be looking for tax increases – and he said yesterday that, despite Labour’s manifesto promises, there is “some room for movement on tax“. I’ve previously written about the case for tax reform, and argued for specific tax cuts. This article solely looks at potential tax-raising measures (plus one potential tax cut that those measures could enable). I’m not an economist or a defence expert, and so I won’t discuss the question of whether this level of tax increase at the present time is necessary or desirable. I’ll take the £4.7bn as a given and proceed from there.
Published: July 3, 2026 5:26 pm
Source: Tax Policy Associates — Read original