# STEPHEN GLOVER: A sunny PM after dour Starmer is a relief. But Burnham’s ‘spend, spend, spend’ mantra will prove his downfall

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/stephen-glover-a-sunny-pm-after-dour-starmer-is-a-relief-but-burnhams-spend-spend-spend-mantra-will-prove-his-downfall/
- Published: 2026-07-27T02:07:59+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-27T02:13:22+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/debate/article-16006527/STEPHEN-GLOVER-sunny-PM-dour-Starmer-relief-Burnhams-spend-mantra-prove-downfall.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Business, Celebrity, Entertainment, Government, Markets, Politics, World

## Key points

- Glover welcomes Burnham's optimism but doubts his grip on policy
- Burnham's early pledges cost roughly £1.7 billion, unfunded so far
- Bigger costs loom: social care, youth jobs and defence spending

## Summary

Daily Mail columnist Stephen Glover writes that while Andy Burnham's upbeat manner as the new Prime Minister is a welcome contrast to Sir Keir Starmer's gloominess, he fears Burnham's early spending pledges show a lack of fiscal seriousness. Glover argues Burnham took power without a mandate or clearly explained policies, and after just a week in office is already promising a raft of costly giveaways without any indication of how they will be funded.

Burnham has pledged to remove VAT from domestic electricity bills, cap bus fares at £2, end rough sleeping and cut business rates for pubs and music venues, policies Glover puts at a combined cost of around £1.7 billion. He warns this is only the start, noting expected announcements on adult social care (estimated at £18.7 billion a year by the Health Foundation), youth employment and defence spending, where reaching 3% of GDP by 2030 could cost an extra £10 billion annually, all while Burnham has given no sign of where savings might be found.

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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.