Andy Burnham to cut taxes on electricity bills, announces new UK cabinet

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkAndy Burnham, in London on July 20, 2026, is set to convene his first cabinet meeting as new British PM after sacking several Starmer loyalists [Andy Rain/EPA]By Al Jazeera StaffPublished On 21 Jul 202621 Jul 2026Andy Burnham has announced a tax cut on electricity bills on his first full day as Britain’s new prime minister, the first step in trying to deliver on his promise to “give ‌people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living”.His Labour Party government is planning to remove value-added tax (VAT) from domestic electricity bills from October 1, Downing Street said in a statement on Tuesday. The lost revenue will be balanced by scrapping the controversial digital ID scheme championed by Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, which would have cost an estimated 1.8 billion pounds ($2.4bn).Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Andy Burnham’s in-tray: The challenges facing the new UK PMlist 2 of 4What’s next as Andy Burnham takes over as UK’s next prime minister?list 3 of 4Burnham’s move to scrap UK’s digital ID plans earns cheers and criticismlist 4 of 4Andy Burnham pledges end to political instability as he becomes UK PMend of listBurnham’s office had previously said one of his first moves as the United Kingdom’s leader would be to ⁠scrap the planned digital ⁠ID. The scheme, first announced last September, faced sustained opposition from the start. It was initially framed as mandatory for right-to-work checks, and touted as a way to keep undocumented immigrants out of the workforce, but the government dropped the mandatory element in January in favour of a voluntary system.Burnham replaced Starmer on Monday as the UK’s seventh premier in a decade, pledging to end the political instability that has plagued the country and promising major change.The former mayor of Greater Manchester said he was “fed up” with the country’s ⁠⁠revolving door of leadership. He said “Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once ‌‌again”, and promised “a new political model and a new economic model”.Burnham is set to convene his first cabinet meeting on Tuesday after sacking several Starmer loyalists, including Rachel Reeves and David Lammy, and promoting allies who had left the previous cabinet.This includes John Healey, who resigned as the defence secretary in June over ‌a disagreement with Starmer about defence spending. Healey has replaced Reeves as chancellor, suggesting he will press the Treasury to release more funding for defence. The UK is one of several NATO countries that have been criticised by United States President Donald Trump for not contributing enough to the alliance.In one of his first important calls to foreign leaders, Burnham spoke with Trump on Monday. The two had a “very good conversation”, Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that they would meet “in ⁠the not too distant future”.“We discussed North Sea Oil, Trade, the Military Alliance, Demining of ‌the Hormuz Strait, and many other topics. The call was interesting, and went very well,” Trump said. Controversial choice for foreign secretaryBurnham said British support for Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will remain “resolute” under his premiership, and that he “will be absolutely there for him in the same way” that Starmer was.In another significant cabinet change, former Labour leader and Secretary of State for Energy Ed Miliband was appointed foreign secretary, a controversial choice even within the party.He was best known in recent years for championing the goal of the UK achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and decarbonising the country’s electricity grid so that at least 95 percent is generated from zero-carbon sources like wind, solar and nuclear power. He also halted the issuing of new North Sea oil and gas exploration licences.Miliband had hoped to be appointed chancellor in Burnham’s cabinet, but British media have reported that key allies of the new prime minister strongly opposed this, believing his net zero evangelism would raise energy prices further in the short term at a time when Britons are struggling with a cost-of-living crisis.British media have also reported that senior US officials close to Trump had privately warned that he would be unhappy with Miliband as chancellor. But the US president is unlikely to be happier with Miliband as foreign secretary.Trump has repeatedly criticised Miliband’s energy policies, saying the UK is wasting the “treasure chest” of oil and gas reserves in the North Sea by halting exploration. Trump’s energy secretary, Chris Wright, has described the UK’s 2050 net zero target as a “sinister goal” and “lunacy”.Miliband’s appointment as foreign secretary has also been widely opposed by critics who accuse him of sabotaging efforts to stop the former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad committing further war crimes following the notorious chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of civilians in Ghouta near Damascus in 2013.