Burnham's Tax and Borrowing Pledges Constrain New Chancellor Healey

Andy Burnham named John Healey chancellor on 20 July 2026, then pledged no rises to income tax, VAT, or national insurance and adherence to inherited borrowing rules. Healey, a former defence secretary and Treasury veteran under Gordon Brown, now faces autumn spending decisions with little fiscal room to fund Burnham's promised "hope" agenda.