‘Pretty bold’: Burnham jumps to defend Healey’s Budget

Andy Burnham has jumped to the defence of John Healey’s first Budget, claiming it was “pretty bold” and looked to “help everybody”. The Prime Minister said on Wednesday afternoon that the Chancellor delivered on support to British households and businesses. He told broadcasters: “It s pretty bold to help 20m households with their energy costs through a council tax cut this winter. It s bold to lift 70,000 businesses out of business rates altogether. Burnham added that conflicts in the Middle East, which are disrupting trade and pushing up energy costs, did not leave the government “huge room for manoeuvre . The Prime Minister and Chancellor are now facing a tussle to defend the Budget after the government raised taxes by around £7bn and increased borrowing in the short-term to fund an energy support package and tax reliefs. Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry, one of the country’s largest industry groups, was among those to say