# Burnham promised big change – where was it? Instead we got the Martin Lewis budget | Aditya Chakrabortty

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/burnham-promised-big-change-where-was-it-instead-we-got-the-martin-lewis-budget-aditya-chakrabortty/
- Published: 2026-10-28T18:19:15+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-29T00:11:38+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/28/andy-burnham-martin-lewis-budget-john-healey
- Topics: Art, Business, Culture, Government, Politics

## Key points

- Martin Lewis’s proposals shaped the budget’s most visible measures.
- The budget offered 98 measures and £380m in extra spending.
- The article says Burnham’s ambitions were not matched by the budget.

## Summary

The article argues that the budget associated with Andy Burnham’s political ambitions was instead shaped by consumer advocate Martin Lewis’s practical proposals. It says this matters because small fixes may ease everyday costs, but cannot meet the need for broader economic and structural change.

Several prominent measures, including scrapping gas standing charges and changing support for pensioners and energy bills, came from Lewis’s wishlist. The budget contained 98 measures but announced £380m in extra spending, compared with £74bn in Rachel Reeves’s first budget; the author says Burnham’s total was about 0.5% of that figure.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.