Andy Burnham planning for No 10 for at least a year, key ally says
One of the biggest headaches facing the next Burnham government is the welfare budget.
A comprehensive review of Personal Independence Payments (Pips) in England and Wales published on Thursday found the disability benefit is “not fit for purpose” and needs fundamental change.
Opposition parties, especially the Conservatives, have called for cutting the welfare budget to finance defense spending.
Sir Keir tried to introduce welfare reforms to cut £5bn a year from the budget, but was forced to make a major U-turn after a backlash led by Haigh, among others.
He told the BBC the welfare bill was “massively inflated” but said the cuts the Labor government was trying to impose would not drive down the welfare bill in a sustainable way because it would increase costs “elsewhere in the system”.
Burnham’s flagship policies include devolving power from Westminster to regional authorities, and he has indicated he may devolve decision-making from the Treasury.
“The Treasury is very powerful and I think it exercises too much power over other areas of public policy,” Haigh said.
But he added: “I think Andy has a clear plan for some of this because he’s thinking really hard about rewiring the state, I don’t think we’ll have time to dismantle the treasury in two and a half years because that would disrupt everything and be a huge distraction.”
Haigh’s resignation in November 2024 was the first from Sir Keir Starmer’s government and followed the revelation that Haigh had pleaded guilty to fraud committed a decade ago.
He admitted to police that he lost his work cell phone during a mugging in 2013, but later learned it had not been stolen.
Due to the incident that took place before he became a member of parliament, the judges gave him a conditional release decision.
Haigh told Nick Robinson that he explained his conviction to Sir Keir while Labor was in opposition.
When the news was published in the Times, his then chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, said the Prime Minister had initially supported him, before asking for his resignation.
He also claimed he was the victim of briefings that were “a deliberate attempt to undermine my character.”
Asked whether Sir Keir’s message after coming to power in the summer of 2024 was too bleak, Haigh said: “We were elected for change and everyone was hopeful when we arrived.
“There was excitement and enthusiasm for a changing country and the government immediately turned around and said it wasn’t possible.
“No matter how many resets we never recovered from this [Sir] “Keir Starmer and the rest of the government tried but never got away with it.”
