{"id":100388,"date":"2026-08-09T23:54:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T23:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/100388\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T23:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T23:54:09","slug":"uks-burnham-vows-crackdown-on-misleading-discounts-and-subscription-traps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/100388\/","title":{"rendered":"UK&#8217;s Burnham vows crackdown on misleading discounts and subscription traps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Published Mon, Aug 10, 2026 \u00b7 06:09 AM<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">[LONDON] Britain\u2019s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Sunday (Aug 9) he would crack down on misleading product discounts and subscription traps as part of a broader push to ease pressure on household finances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">Burnham wants to deliver improvements in living standards after a decade marked by unprecedented political instability, during which Britain had seven prime ministers and households saw little improvement in their spending power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">Since taking power on Jul 20, Burnham has removed a tax from domestic electricity bills, capped bus fares and lowered business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues, eager to show that he can act more decisively than his predecessor Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">Retailers\u2019 misleading pricing claims to be banned<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">He plans to ban retailers from making misleading claims to shoppers about discounts, which make savings look larger than they really are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">The government will launch a consultation to assess whether tactics such as fake claims about previous prices, invented discounts and misleading recommended retail prices should be added to the list of practices banned under existing legislation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">However, the British Retail Consortium, which represents most major retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury\u2019s and Marks &amp; Spencer, played down the extent of the current problem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">\u201cBRC members adhere to all rules and regulations on promotions, ensuring consumers benefit from genuine savings on the discounts offered,\u201d Tom Ironside, its director of business and regulation, said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">Burnham also wants to see an end to subscription traps, where people find it hard to cancel their subscriptions and contracts are automatically renewed at a higher cost.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-6 border-b border-gray-250 pb-4 font-poppins text-4xs font-medium tracking-10 text-gray-515\">SEE ALSO<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"block h-full w-full\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businesstimes.com.sg\/international\/burnham-pitches-jobs-boost-us11-2-billion-fund-submarines?ref=article-see-also\" data-discover=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"relative z-10 h-full w-full object-cover\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ceb0ae5972e7fccd3ec0e55654016fb06917ddd482dd87e371215b6e076595e8.webp\" alt=\"British PM Andy Burnham wants to help tackle rising youth unemployment by creating jobs in Britain\u2019s defence sector.\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2000\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">New rules from January 2027 will mean businesses will need to provide clearer up-front information, regular reminders and a much easier exit to contracts. A new 14-day cooling-off period will also let consumers cancel after a trial or long-term contract renews.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words mb-4 md:mb-6 inline-block\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-component\">\u201cToday is just the start,\u201d said Burnham, promising more measures would follow. REUTERS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published Mon, Aug 10, 2026 \u00b7 06:09 AM [LONDON] Britain\u2019s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Sunday&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7786,1930,5,6],"class_list":["post-100388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-andy-burnham","tag-retail","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117068252022471108","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}