New Prime Minister Andy Burnham announces VAT cuts on household electricity bills over winter

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

It’s been less than 24 hours since Andy Burnham officially became Prime Minister, and he’s already announced his first measure.

After giving his first speech as Prime Minister outside the doors of Number 10 yesterday, where he said he intended to ‘give people some breathing space’ straight out the gate, it has now been announced that millions of households across the UK will benefit from immediate action to help with their electricity bills this winter.

The Government says it wants to address the cost of living crisis first and foremost, and will do this by tackling rising bills with a tax cut to remove VAT from domestic electricity bills from 1 October, just in time to impact the next Ofgem price cap.

This immediate action applies and is funded for this financial year.

The cost of this immediate action for this financial year is being funded from the £1.8bn Digital ID programme – which Burnham also announced he would be scrapping.

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Any further action – including on funding for longer-term measures – will be taken at the Budget, alongside an Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast, and all decisions at that point will continue to be funded with the Government’s fiscal rules, it has been confirmed.

Cutting VAT on electricity bills is expected to take around £45 off the yearly Ofgem price cap in October, and this is on top of the £150 removed from bills at the last Budget.  

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All suppliers are expected to pass the VAT reduction on to all customers, including those on fixed tariffs.

Small businesses who qualify for the domestic energy VAT relief and are not registered for VAT, as well as charities and residential care homes eligible for the reduced rate, will also benefit.  

‘I will give this my all’ – Andy Burnham’s speech in full as he becomes Prime Minister

“Westminster has not been working for people for too long, with families struggling with the cost of living,” commented Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

“That needs to change.

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“I said I wanted to give people breathing space, and that’s what I’m announcing on my second day as Prime Minister. We’re taking immediate action to cut taxes on energy bills, put more money in people’s pockets, and bring back hope.”

Featured Image – Matthew Henry (via Unsplash)

Pep Guardiola in talks over first international management role

Danny Jones Danny Jones Pep Guardiola odds on to become next Italian manager

Football icon and Manchester City legend Pep Guardiola is reportedly set for his first job since leaving the Etihad Stadium, as the Catalan head coach looks like he could be set to make his move into international management.

The generational manager, who has undoubtedly become one of, if not the greatest of all time, left Man City at the end of last season after a decade in East Manchester.

Stepping away from the sky blue side with 20 trophies in 10 years, he’s won pretty much everything there is to win – at least at club level, anyway.

With that in mind, multiple outlets are now claiming that Guardiola is getting ready to make his debut on the international circuit, already being heavily linked with a role as part of ‘gli Azzurri’.

Yes, as per Sky News’ sporting arm over in Italy, Pep is now rumoured to be the next person to take the job in their national team, which would be his first proper senior position in international football.

According to Sky, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) have already held meetings with the former Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City boss.

It remains unclear how advanced talks and/or negotiations have progressed up to this point, but it is said that fellow footballing veteran and AC Milan legend turned FIGC technical director, Paolo Maldini, has already travelled to meet the 55-year-old.

Believed to have been joined by former teammate and right-hand man Leonardo Araújo – who previously served as director at PSG – it looks to be more a case of whether Pep wants the job rather than if Italy want him.

From announcing a documentary series covering his final season at Man City, to even launching a dedicated ‘Decade of Pep’ fashion collection, it’s fair to say that both the club and the fan base are bidding a bittersweet goodbye.

Manchester City release new ‘The Decade Collection’ celebrating 10 years of Pep Guardiola
See it in full.

Guardiola is already thought to have been the frontrunner for the England job before ultimately extending his stay with the City Football Group (CFG), and The FA had to turn to Thomas Tuchel.

Pep has already made it clear that he can’t see himself ever managing the Spanish national team, remarking: “I am a Catalan. I don’t see myself ever managing Spain.”

Meanwhile, other names rumoured as options for the Italian manager’s job include Andrea Pirlo and a return by fellow ex-MCFC boss, Roberto Mancini. Can you see Pep pipping any of these to the post?

As for his former club and ‘second home’, Cityzens will be glad to hear that while it may be all change over at the Etihad Campus, there is plenty to be hopeful about – including some steps more in the right direction when it comes to tickets.

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Featured Images — Massimo Finizio/Steffen Prößdorf (via WikiCommons)/The Manc Group

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