It did not take new Chancellor John Healey long to fall under the influence of Treasury orthodoxy. Almost his first act after walking into his new Whitehall domain was to spell out his commitment to the fiscal rules. “For me, as for any Chancellor, fiscal control must be the first duty. It is mine. So let me give you my five priorities as your Chancellor”, he said in a speech to his new staff. He then went on to spell them out:
- First, fiscal discipline. Because fiscal credibility is the bedrock of economic stability and national security. We will meet the fiscal rules. And Andy Burnham and I have talked about how we will do that in lockstep, ensuring there’s a buffer also for uncertainty.
- Second, growth in every postcode. So every government department is a growth department. We’ll make the fullest possible use of public investment within our fiscal framework, and we’ll take the fullest advantage of private and international investment – ready to back Britain.
- Third. Backing Britain. British benefits. British apprenticeships. British jobs. For every procurement pound spent. Buying British not if possible, but by design. In transport, in energy, in defence, in AI and in tech.
- And fourth, wealth creation. I want our government commitments to create a greater confidence, investment, innovation, profit in our British businesses. And I say to those who have a bright idea or a small business, they want to grow, I will back you.
- And fifth, I want to make life more affordable. Bringing down the cost of living and beginning a new era of devolution and public control. Not political buzzwords, but principles to underpin the decisions made in this building and in this government. And today, you’ve seen the way that we have cut tax from electricity bills just to give people a little more breathing space with their household finances in the winter.
This is the way that we start to build a new economy. This is the way that we start to build new hope. This is the way that we start to advance working people in this country.
Good cop, bad cop
If there was an element of “bad cop” in this, with its top priority for the fiscal rules, that is perhaps not surprising for as Healey reminded his new team, he has been here before. He may be new as Chancellor, but he was a Treasury minister in the late Blair/Brown years.
“You know,” he told his new staff, “when I left the Treasury it was in 2008/9, just as the global financial crisis hit, and that crisis led to austerity. It led to low growth. It led to almost a decade and a half of stagnant living conditions. And that crisis and the political choices made in response still drive people’s pessimism about who wields power in this country. People’s desperation for hopes in their communities.”
Meanwhile, Burnham is continuing to play “good cop”, following up his announcements of cuts in energy bills and a £2 bus fare cap with news of business rates relief for pubs, clubs and live music venues.
What about devolution?
Exactly what the new government will mean for English devolution we will have to wait and see. Healey mentioned devolution, but only as a fifth priority and even thenn bundled up with the cost of living and public control.
Burnham has been talking about devolution too, but in the context of Scotland and Wales, and not with much enthusiasm. On a visit to Scotland he said: “When I say we need good growth in every postcode, I mean every postcode across the whole of the UK. Every place and every person matters.
I’m not focused on point scoring or discussing constitutional changes like referendums, I want practical measures to help people live well and bring back hope. That’s why I’m giving families more breathing space with help on the cost of living, which I have started this week by taking VAT off electricity bills, saving money for millions of households.”
Healey mentioned growth in every postcode too; it is his second priority after fiscal discipline. There does not seem much difference from Rachel Reeves in that respect.
Stand by to hear a lot more about the “growth in every post code” mantra from now on. It is the Burnham equivalent to that old Boris favourite of levelling up left behind places. It remains to be seen whether “pride in place”, carried over from Johnson to Starmer, will survive as a slogan.
You can read John Healey’s speech in full here and a press release on Andy Burnham’s Scotland visit here.
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