Sir Keir Starmer is resigning as Prime Minister, with Andy Burnham set to replace the Labour Party leader as PM in Number 10 Downing Street, according to predictions. Starmer leaves behind a complicated legacy, having won power in a loveless landslide, only to then career down the polls.
Wage Boost for Young Workers
As he departs, analysts, experts and commentators are revisiting Starmer's biggest achievements. Among them was a raft of measures in April which saw wages go up, bills come down, and more support for those who need it most. Measures included increasing the National Living wage to £12.71 – a £900 boost for 2.4 million workers - and increasing the National Minimum Wage to £10.85 – a £1,500 boost for over 200,000 young workers.
Starmer's Statement on the Measures
At the time, Starmer said: “In an uncertain and volatile world, it is my government’s duty to protect the British people at home and abroad. I know the public are concerned about the conflict in Iran and what it means for them and their families. I want to reassure them that they have a government on their side, working with allies on de-escalation and bearing down on the cost of living.”
Burnham Advisor Calls for More Infrastructure Spending
It comes as a Burnham advisor, Jim O’Neill, a former chief economist at Goldman Sachs, says the government should spend more on major projects. Speaking to the Guardian on Tuesday, a day after Mr Burnham was named as the likely successor to Starmer, he said: “There is a lot more room under the existing fiscal rules to borrow for investment, and the next chancellor should take advantage of that. We can do way more to boost infrastructure projects, and that is what we should be doing.”
“We need Nista as a separate, much more transparent entity,” he said. “The public then gets a clearer sense, as do financial markets, as to what the multiplier effects [on growth] would be.” In an interview for Sky News, O’Neill said: “One thing I think Andy might explore is a much more publicly transparent entity – a sort of infrastructure version of the OBR – in which the whole country can see regularly, transparently which big infrastructure projects are going to make a difference and which ones won’t.”
