‘I can
deliver’: Burnham pledges radical change on eve of Labour conference
Exclusive:
UK prime minister says delivering fiscal stability would be ‘crucial’ to be
able to fix bigger problems
Pippa
Crerar Political editor
Sat 26
Sep 2026 17.35 BST
Andy
Burnham has said he can deliver on his promise of radical change for the
country despite severe economic headwinds, telling the Guardian: “There’s
always things you can do; it’s just whether you’re prepared to do them.”
The prime
minister acknowledged public finances were “challenging” ahead of next month’s
budget but said delivering fiscal stability would be “crucial”, because only
then would the government be able to focus on fixing bigger problems.
A series
of global economic shocks, including the Iran conflict, has put the UK economy
under intense inflationary pressure and pushed up borrowing costs, leaving the
government limited room for manoeuvre.
UK
Motgage Rate increase, Wimbledon, London - 25 Sep 2026People browsing the
window of an estate agent in Wimbledon, southwest London. UK Households could
be paying higher mortgages due to rising government borrowing costs whic could
push up the cost of home loans as figures realeed by the Bank of England show
one million homeowners have remortgaged from cheaper fixed rates
Ahead of
his first Labour conference as prime minister, however, Burnham sought to
reassure voters he was willing to make tough decisions to deliver change and
show the markets he could ensure fiscal stability while preparing the
groundwork for more substantial change ahead.
Speaking
to the Guardian on the eve of his first conference as Labour leader, he said:
“The public would have more respect for us if we go and grab something
difficult … and say, ‘Right, we’re going to do something here’, rather than
constantly playing the political game before fixing the problems.
“It’s
challenging, definitely, but there are still things that you can do. Always in
politics, there are things that you can do. The question is sometimes: Are you
prepared to do them? Yeah, I am prepared to do them.”
When
asked about the need for a large fiscal buffer against shocks, he said the key
thing was stability, indicating that he understood the need to reassure the
markets, but that more radical transformation of the state would follow.
“I do
think it is crucial to have stability and to show that there’s a willingness to
face up to the reality of some of these difficult things. But actually from
that stability, the permission can come to make bigger change that, in the end,
could put the country in a stronger position in relation to the public
finances,” he said.
“You have
to have stability, but you have to do what you can within that. You can’t
pursue a major programme of change, which is what I believe the country needs,
in a chaotic situation.”
After
ruling out holding a snap general election before 2029, Burnham said he wanted
to set out a clear path for how the country could move to a better place – and
that he hadn’t been spending his time “sitting politicking and strategising”
but instead was focused on fixing problems.
His
ambition to give people “a bit more belief that things can improve” across the
country, he said, would not come from “endlessly running elections and
referendums”.
He denied
having had discussions with his senior team about whether to call an early
election. “The speculation in no way matches the internal discussion because
there isn’t one,” he said, rejecting claims he did not have a mandate as the
public had voted for the Labour party.
However,
Burnham acknowledged he was hemmed in on tax and the fiscal rules of Keir
Starmer’s manifesto commitments, and suggested he would have done it
differently had he been in charge at the time.
“I’ve
inherited those positions and, as I say, I think the main thing for me is to
focus on the here and now for people, not to be self-serving about ‘oh, what
would suit me?’ and playing politics. That’s not where my mind is, and possibly
would have framed it different, but we are where we are, you know, and that’s
the reality.”
Burnham
played down speculation that Labour may give more support for energy bills,
with the price cap set to soar from January. “I think people need to remember
that measures have already been taken,” he said, referring to VAT on
electricity bills being scrapped from next week.
The prime
minister also reiterated that while he thought the welfare bill was too high,
the will among Labour MPs was “not there for crude cuts” because they would
push people into crisis, so a longer-term approach to reform was required.
After
warning of the risks, as well as the opportunities of artificial intelligence
at the UN last week, Burnham admitted to concerns about rogue AI agents
attacking state institutions in the UK, after the Australian medicare system
was hit.
Burnham
addressed the presence of far-right protesters on the streets of Britain,
accusing Daniel Thomas, who has led black-clad anti-migrant vigilantes on the
streets of some English towns, of “creating fear” but did not go as far as
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, who accused him of being an “outright
racist”.
Speaking
of Thomas’s masked gangs, he said: “I mean that’s not Britain. That’s not what
we want to see in people’s communities. There’s legitimate concerns about
issues, and then there is intimidation – and that is intimidation,” he said.
The prime
minister also addressed political funding, which has been in the spotlight
since Reform UK received two record-breaking £36m donations from cryptocurrency
billionaires, saying that – contrary to reports – he would not rule out a
domestic donations cap.
“You know
I think we do need to continue to have a cross-party discussion about how do we
uphold trust in politics? How do we not give the impression that politics can
be bought and that people are, if you like, unduly influenced?”
He was
also open to looking at election spending limits, he said, which are now being
examined by the Electoral Commission, adding that he has “real concerns” about
crypto-fuelled politics.
An
emotional Burnham revealed that the death of his father, Roy, last week had
made him more determined to deliver. “I’m in this job for what I can do for
people, not for what it can do for me … to make the changes that my dad, for
instance, long pushed me to make,” he said.
“It’s
been a hard thing, if I’m honest, coming into this position in the last three
months when I also knew in my heart that I was starting this journey as my dad
was ending his.
“Although
that’s hard, and I’m not seeking sympathy in saying it, I say it because the
coming together of those two things increases my determination to make a
difference on the things that I’ve long said I want to fix.”
With
political courage expected to be a focus of his speech to Labour’s conference
in Liverpool, Burnham said he was willing to be honest with the public about
what needed to happen, even if it was difficult to hear.
“I think
the public want to see, number one, honesty about things. So not spin or
putting things a certain way that’s self-serving. They want honesty, and then
they want, I think, difficult but real decisions,” said Burnham.
“Not
difficult decisions and making a fetish out of that, but actually grasping
nettles and then moving things forward. I don’t think politics has been
prepared to do that enough in recent times.”
Burnham
criticised previous governments for failing to tackle difficult issues such as
social care, housing supply and youth unemployment, saying longer-term reform
was needed because there were no “easy or quick wins”.
He
revealed there would be a new help-to-buy scheme aimed at giving first-time
buyers who cannot rely on the “bank of mum and dad” the keys to their own home.
It will be funded by reallocating existing budgets, although it is unclear
which ones, rather than through extra borrowing.
Burnham
also said he wanted to deliver significant progress on social care reform – a
manifesto commitment – before the next election. “Who is going to do something
to actually make it real? I’m saying to you that I am going to address this
directly.”
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