Why Andy Burnham’s idea for Gen Z tax breaks should give us hope on Brexit

FWe may finally be seeing the real Andy Burnham, and that could provide hope for those who want him to be ready to reverse Brexit.

IndependentThe revelation that he is considering a tax cut for young people as part of a broader package to help close the generational wealth gap has sent an important signal about his priorities.

This tells us two things about Mr. Burnham. First, he is willing to think the unthinkable to solve seemingly intractable problems.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, he may be the first prime minister to seriously prioritize younger generations.

we are right now Independent continue Europe: The Way Back Looking ahead to the Brexit campaign, both of these indicators of how Mr Burnham will govern the country should provide grounds for optimism. It may finally be the Prime Minister who is willing to look at the whole issue again.

The constant knock on Mr. Burnham was the claim that no one knew what he truly stood for.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and others suggested it was actually Keir Starmer, wearing a black T-shirt and smiling.

But his various U-turns and pronouncements on issues – particularly on Brexit, which he reconvened last September and went silent on while running for the pro-Leave seat of Makerfield last month – have fostered the image of a man who is all present but bereft of policy ideas and conviction.

The funny thing is that a similar criticism has been leveled at Nigel Farage; All personality, no substance. Neither man would likely appreciate the comparison.

But now we learn something of Mr. Burnham’s philosophy; This goes beyond the specific details of policy and his obvious hope that he will be the party leader most people would want to have a beer with.

Revelations that he is discussing a Gen Z tax break to help young people save a deposit to buy their own home so they can get a mortgage reveal that what drives Mr Burnham is not just his willingness to try different things, but his focus on doing so.

For years, British politics has been mired in a sense of fatalism that looks at intractable problems, such as young people’s failure to enter the housing market, and shrugs its shoulders at actually doing anything important.

At best, we start tinkering, like Sir Keir Starmer timidly resetting Brexit with the EU. But often people double down on things that don’t already work; for example, continuing to impose a triple lock on the state pension at the expense of everything else.

Mr Burnham was quite candid when he told Andrew Marr on LBC on Thursday night that his generation of politicians were letting people down, and he himself was involved.

He was talking about his belief that the root of this problem is the liberal economic consensus of the last 40 years and its reliance on “trickle down” theory.

But it goes beyond that. No one asks what radical measures are really needed to solve the big problems.

This is especially true for Brexit; A historic mistake costs this country £100 billion a year in trade and £40 billion in tax revenue.

The idea of ​​exempting young people from income tax for three years of employment to enable them to put together a deposit for a mortgage may be fanciful and impractical. Tax expert Dan Neidle can certainly see the problems with this.

But we see a man about to take over the leadership of our country who, as the old cliché goes, is willing to think outside the box and, more than that, consider the unthinkable.

Even as he recommits to the triple lock on state pensions, he is also prioritizing young voters.

As a result of Brexit, it was young people, especially Generation Z, who missed this opportunity, especially due to the loss of free movement. As Sir John Major stated, they are the ones who will ensure the UK rejoins.

But thinking the unthinkable has its limits. Thinking the unthinkable, after all, was Tony Blair’s famous instruction to welfare minister Frank Field in 1997 to look at welfare reform. Unfortunately, Sir Tony, although one of our brave politicians, abandoned the idea after the late Mr. Field presented him with ideas that would trigger a major rebellion.

Yet we now know that Mr. Burnham is willing to be bold and venture into uncharted territory. Let’s hope this includes taking a less reserved approach to undoing Brexit.

But what remains to be seen is whether he is willing to make the difficult decisions that arise when you want to increase one pot at the expense of another.

Relations with the EU are dividing generations in the UK and require a bold approach on behalf of young pro-EU voters.

We will see whether Mr Burnham has the courage to back his innovation once he is confirmed as Prime Minister on July 20.

But for now, its approach to Generation Z should give us reasons to hope.