![\"Andy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Andy-Haldane-is-an-adviser-to-Andy-Burnham-e1782400250958.jpg\")
\t\tAndy Haldane heaped praise on Prime Minister-to-be Andy Burnham. PA Wire\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tFriday 26 June 2026 5:00 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tThursday 25 June 2026 7:33 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tAndy Haldane heaped praise on Prime Minister-to-be Andy Burnham. PA Wire\t<\/p>\n
Andy Haldane is pressing for a radical shake-up of the UK\u2019s tax and wider economic systems as he heaped praise on the Prime Minister-to-be Andy Burnham for having the potential to bring a \u201cchange in vibe\u201d across Britain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Haldane, who is advising Burnham on economic policies and growth, urged the country\u2019s next leader to be \u201cbolder and brassier\u201d in order to boost dynamism across the UK economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He emphasised that \u201cstability is not stasis\u201d and Burnham had the potential to \u201cgenerate a sense of momentum\u201d though the Prime Minister would have to confront the \u201cpsychological significance of taking the first step\u201d on a radical reset.<\/p>\n
In an interview with City AM, the former Bank of England<\/a> chief economist, who is currently the president of the British Chambers of Commerce, an industry group, suggested Burnham could introduce sweeping changes around the tax code, the triple lock pension and moving teams in Whitehall around the country.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Haldane also opened the door to a change in the fiscal rules. He said that the Office for Budget Responsibility should at least take assessments on government policy effects lasting over a 10-year period, even if the three-year fiscal forecast window for borrowing was left unchanged.\u00a0<\/p>\n Overhauling the OBR<\/a>\u2019s framework to allow for longer forecast windows is a view passionately shared by Burnham\u2019s chief campaigner, Louise Haigh.\u00a0<\/p>\n Haldane\u2019s high praise for Burnham\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n After an impassioned speech<\/a> decrying \u201cforeign raiders\u201d taking over Britain\u2019s start-ups and claiming greater tax reliefs should be given to investors pumping cash into domestic assets, Haldane praised Burnham\u2019s mayoralty of Greater Manchester as growth in the city averaged at around three per cent.<\/p>\n Haldane told City AM that Burnham was capable of changing the \u201cvibe\u201d around British businesses over the next three years after having overseen Manchester\u2019s economic transformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said: \u201cAndy was mayor of Manchester for 10 years. Even over 10 years, GDP in Manchester didn\u2019t catch up with London, but did we see an acceleration? Yes. Was that accompanied by a change in vibe about Greater Manchester? Yes.<\/p>\n \u201cCan those elements be brought to bear at the national level, most likely with Andy as leader? Absolutely, they can. That will require a boldness of leadership that we\u2019ve not had in the recent past, and we can wish for in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n He praised the Treasury\u2019s campus in Darlington as a \u201csuccess story\u201d and suggested that the Office for National Statistics \u201cwould have had its challenges\u201d even if its offices weren\u2019t moved to Newport in Wales.\u00a0<\/p>\n He also backed Burnham\u2019s drive to offer powers to local authorities in a \u201cdevolution revolution\u201d as there was an \u201coverwhelmingly strong case for decentralising the power-broking and the resourcing\u201d of the central government.\u00a0<\/p>\n Case for tax reform<\/strong> \u2018could not be clearer\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Haldane doubled down on his staunch criticism of transaction taxes such as stamp duty and an outdated council tax system.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tBurnham turns to ex-OBR and Bank of England chiefs on economic policy<\/a><\/p>\n He endorsed a cross-party report<\/a>, organised by the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation and backed by the likes of Labour\u2019s Yuan Yang as well as the Conservatives\u2019 Andrew Griffith, on sweeping tax reforms that could bolster growth prospects.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among a number of \u201crevenue neutrality\u201d adjustments recommended in the paper was a call for property taxes to be replaced with a combination of changes to business rates and council taxes, with property valuation bands not being revised since 1991.\u00a0<\/p>\n Haldane said the case for a land value tax to replace \u201cterrible\u201d stamp duty \u201ccould not be clearer\u201d as he said HMRC\u2019s code should be revised to a degree not seen since Nigel Lawson was Chancellor during Margaret Thatcher\u2019s premiership.\u00a0<\/p>\n Responding to Haldane\u2019s comments, Centax director Arun Advani said their report was designed to foster a cross-party debate about tax reform.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople differ about exactly which implementation they prefer, but what was really striking was the consensus that any of the plausible alternatives were better than the status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n Centax researchers warned that proposals in the report were \u201crealistic\u201d though required \u201cserious structural reform\u201d and needed longer than the 10 weeks of planning, roughly the period of time taken for Budgets to be drafted. <\/p>\n However, Haldane took a more cautious view on a plan backed by some Labour backbenchers and Wes Streeting to equalise capital gains taxes with income tax levels, while allowing for an investment allowance for entrepreneurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n The leading economist said a new capital gains tax system should not be used as a \u201ccash cow\u201d to raise funds given the uncertainty and volatility of receipts. The OBR has previously raised the alarm on the difficulty of predicting the behavioural effects caused by changes to the wealth tax.\u00a0<\/p>\n