Burnham takes cost-of-living agenda on nationwide listening tour

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is preparing a nationwide tour focused on the cost of living, combining meetings with voters and the rollout of consumer measures designed to give households what Downing Street described as “room to breathe”.

Burnham is expected to spend much of the parliamentary summer recess away from Westminster. Officials said he would use the August tour to listen to people’s concerns and explain the direction of his planned 10-year programme for the country.

No 10 said the Prime Minister rejects the idea that hidden prices and consumers being overcharged should simply be accepted as part of everyday life. A series of pro-consumer measures is therefore due to be introduced, although the Government has not yet published a full list or a detailed itinerary for the tour.

One expected destination is Tata Steel UK’s Port Talbot plant in south Wales, the country’s largest steelworks. The wider route is likely to include places affected by industrial decline and areas where Labour has lost support over the past decade.

The tour continues the approach Burnham has tried to establish since replacing Keir Starmer at Downing Street last month. The former Greater Manchester mayor has opened No 10 North in Manchester, presenting it as part of a plan to devolve more power to local authorities and spread economic opportunity beyond Westminster.

Rising prices remain a major concern for British households, with the wider economic impact of the war in West Asia adding to pressure on living costs. Burnham has said his Government wants to provide immediate breathing space while developing a longer-term plan for growth and living standards.

Opposition parties questioned whether the tour would deliver practical help. Conservative shadow chancellor Mel Stride argued that Government taxes and regulation were contributing to business closures, job losses and higher prices. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper said struggling firms needed more than a summer tour by a new Prime Minister.

Burnham’s meetings will therefore carry a double test: gathering evidence about the pressures voters face and showing that the promised consumer measures can produce visible relief. Further details are expected as the tour begins.