Andy Burnham has vowed to tackle “rip-off” subscription traps as part of his blitz of policies to tackle the cost of living crisis and provide “everyday fixes” for rising bills.
The prime minister, who will begin a summer tour of the country on Monday, will accelerate plans to force companies to make it easier to cancel subscriptions and provide more information about costs up-front rather than quietly auto-renewing them at a higher price.
Mr Burnham will travel the country during August where he will ask the public how the government can improve their lives, with officials insisting the PM will be in “listening mode” as he vowed to “pull every single lever we can to provide people with some room to breathe on the cost of living”.
The changes to subscriptions, announced in April under Sir Keir Starmer’s government, had been expected to come into force next spring, but Mr Burnham will bring their introduction forward to January.
open image in galleryHe will also launch a consultation on adding deceptive discount offers to the Competition and Markets Authority’s list of banned practices.
This would make it easier for the watchdog to punish firms that artificially inflate prices and then immediately offer a “discount” to make a product look much better value than it is.
The prime minister said: “I know people are sick and tired of rip-off discounts and subscription traps. Westminster has got used to telling people that everyday hassles like this are just part of life.
“I don’t think that’s right, especially when the cost of living continues to weigh heavily on so many people’s lives.”
Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, welcomed the proposals, saying subscription traps and deceptive discounts were “a widespread problem”.
Citizens Advice has previously found 26 per cent of UK adults had accidentally taken out a subscription in a single year, with the government saying its action could save households £14 per month.
Further announcements are expected over the summer, with the prime minister describing Monday’s proposals as “just the start”.
The upcoming tour, which is expected to inform his 10-year plan for the country, will also see Mr Burnham focus on improving high streets.
A spokesperson for the prime minister added he would be “getting out of Westminster and meeting people where they are”.
But opposition figures have criticised his August plans as a “vanity tour” offering only “tinkering”, and urged him to implement broader tax cuts. Meanwhile, there have also been concerns raised over how Mr Burnham’s cost of living blitz will be funded.
It comes after he announced a swathe of policies to bring down bills in his first week in office, including a 20 per cent business rate cut for pubs, clubs and live music venues, a VAT cut to electricity bills, and bus fares capped to £2 from January.
The business rate cut alone is expected to cost the government around £100m per year – but it is unclear how it will be funded.
Mr Burnham is also facing at least a £4.7bn black hole to fill in Sir Keir’s defence spending plan. But announcing that his first Budget will take place on 28 October, chancellor John Healey vowed it would be “built on fiscal discipline”.
open image in galleryLast month, the prime minister was warned that he will have to raise taxes or cut spending if he wants to fund his new priorities, in a grim analysis by one of the UK’s leading economic think tanks.
Economists at the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) cautioned the prime minister and Mr Healey that “there is no capacity to borrow any more” and that inflation will push up the cost of living much higher than the Bank of England (BoE) is forecasting.
Responding to the latest measures to tackle the cost of living, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Andy Burnham has already run out of ideas.
“The cost of living didn’t become a problem last week, so you have to ask why it has taken Labour so long to enact legislation passed by the previous government.
“Labour’s tax hikes have sent costs soaring for hardworking families and destroyed jobs. Consultations and reheated measures won’t make up for that.”