10 years of Burnham?

Plus: Sadiq Khan has surrendered on housing, and what Burnham is learning from Trump

Jul 20, 2026

Rachel Reeves is finally out at the Treasury – but be careful what you wish for…

As Andy Burnham entered No. 10 as Prime Minister today, he vowed to unveil a 10-year plan for Britain, promising ‘a new political model and a new economic model’. His openness to rent controls and a 50p rate of tax on high earners suggests he may really mean it – but not in a good way.

Steven Swinford@Steven_Swinford

Breaking: Andy Burnham has said he is considering introducing rent controls as he prepares to announce cost of living support tomorrow that "could make a difference this year". The new prime minister was asked if his plans to cut the cost of living include rent controls and

3:10 PM · Jul 20, 2026 · 48K Views

25 Replies · 35 Reposts · 83 Likes

One of the few firm promises Burnham has made is that he will use his premiership to end rough sleeping. As our Stat of the Day shows below, he promised the same thing in Manchester, but couldn’t deliver. His new Cabinet will be hoping the £340 million earmarked for rough sleepers will do enough to keep them and their staff from ending up on the streets.

Burnham also promised today to ‘put life’s essentials back under stronger public control to make them affordable to you again’. As Andrew Lilico pointed out in last week’s episode of The Capitalist, this suggests some very confused economic thinking. Let’s hope his new Chancellor can explain it to him.

Below you’ll find all the latest pieces from CapX, plus what we’re reading from around the web.

Marc Sidwell
Editor, CapX

Today’s Takes

Fresh thinking from CapX

Burnham is fighting the wrong enemy

Mani Basharzad

‘Had the UK achieved Thatcher-era rates of economic growth over the past decade, the economy would today be around £740 billion larger than it is.’

Andy Burnham says he wants to ‘undo Thatcher’s economic legacy’ as Prime Minister, but does he really want Britain to return to the 1970s? It is easy to forget the country Thatcher inherited and the more prosperous and confident one she left behind. The real enemy today is not ‘neoliberalism’, it is state power getting in the way of capitalism. Read More

Sadiq Khan's London Plan surrenders early

Ben Hopkinson

‘Instead of planning for the annual target of 87,992 homes that the Government has set for London, the draft plan admits defeat instantly and only plans for 55,800 homes.’

London’s housing shortage stands at around 1.85 million homes, and it is delivering the fewest number of homes since the Second World War. So the release of a new draft London Plan provides the perfect opportunity to turn around this miserable state of affairs and be radically pro-housebuilding. Has Sadiq Khan risen to this challenge? Sadly, no. Read More

Stat of the day

Best of the Web

Can Reform win the Battle for the North?

James Frayne, The Telegraph

‘Reform have only been a potent political force because of their ability to tap into “Northernness” and, more broadly, provincialism.’

Andy Burnham wants to drive Reform UK out of large swathes of the North. That’s a huge task, but he has a big point in his favour: his status as an authentic Northern leader. Reform have been able to capture votes by contrasting themselves to Starmer’s snobby north London approach. Those days are over, and the new fight will not be easy for Nigel Farage to win. Read More

A North Sea climbdown is a mistake

Kathryn Porter, UnHerd

‘Britain will continue to consume significant quantities of oil and gas for decades, so it makes sense to produce as much as it can itself.’

After rumours that our new PM was going to break with Britain's failing energy policy, it now seems he will continue to block new North Sea oil and gas. The result will be higher bills, lost jobs and billions in squandered tax revenue. If Burnham wants to cut energy bills to help with the cost of living, he needs to think radically. Read More