New British PM begins tackling cost-of-living crisis

Groups lobbying on behalf of the United Kingdom's poorest people have welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham's first moves since he took office on Monday.

Burnham, who has vowed to lead a "cost-of-living government", told his new Cabinet on Tuesday that impoverished people struggling with fast-rising prices need a "sense that help is coming".

He then announced he was cutting Value Added Tax from October on household energy bills — from 5 percent to zero — a move that will save the average family 45 pounds ($60) a year.

Burnham's spokesman told reporters that the change will cost the country 850 million pounds this year and would be funded out of 1.8 billion pounds set aside for a digital ID program.

Burnham told his ministers to look for savings to help pay for initiatives to ease the cost-of-living crisis.

"There are things that can be done, big and small," he said.

He also set aside 340 million pounds to help tackle homelessness during the next five years.

On Wednesday, he said bus fares in England will be capped at 2 pounds a journey from January. Previously, the cap had been 3 pounds.

The cheaper fares will cost the country around 500 million pounds, which will be taken from the budget of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Heidi Alexander, the UK's transport secretary, told the BBC that the government will not make "any unfunded spending commitments".

To finance cheaper bus fares, she said the government will shift its overseas aid strategy — offering loans rather than grants to climate projects in other countries.

Burnham has also promised to help more young people find work and vowed more mental health support.

Alex Chapman, economics and environment policy chief at the London-based think tank New Economics Foundation, welcomed the new prime minister's stated aims but said his first moves have been "very small in government terms".

"The actual scale of this is very limited," he said.

Homelessness charities also welcomed Burnham's pledge to put "the care of people at the heart of everything I do" and to "fix" rough sleeping.

With around 5,000 people thought to be sleeping rough in the UK each night, Helen MacNamara, chair of trustees at the homelessness charity Shelter, told The Independent newspaper, "It's great to see a prime minister standing on the steps of Downing Street, and that the first thing he says is talking about ending rough sleeping and his commitment to building council housing."

Describing rough sleeping as "one of the pestilences of our age", she said Burnham will also need to solve "hidden homelessness", which means 176,000 children do not have a permanent place to live.

Yvonne Hope, chief executive of the Manchester-based homelessness charity Barnabus, added, "If anyone's going to do it, it will be him."

earle@mail.chinadailyuk.com