Preferable to Starmer he may be, but there is scant sign of a sharp political break in Burnham’s policies so far — while left challenges aren’t making much of a running either, finds ANDREW MURRAY. How can socialism be put back on the map?
HOT on the heels of his speech at the Conservative Party conference, Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s campaign for the party’s leadership and 10 Downing Street continues.
His Budget address was more like an election address, bigging himself up with bogus generosity wrapped up in a giant but as yet blank invoice.
He made much of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s uprating of this year’s economic growth rate in Britain to 6.5 per cent. It’s not difficult to achieve a much higher rate than last year’s peak-Covid level.
A sharp rise in public-sector investment is required to kick-start the economy, argues MICHAEL BURKE
Burnham urged to raise taxes on banks after Barclays reveals 30% rise in pre-tax profits
Trade unions call for windfall tax hike to fund social energy tariff to public’s energy bills
Only an ambitious programme of state-led investment can restore growth and improve living standards, argues MICHAEL BURKE



