https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/we-need-be-cost-living-government
New PM slashes fuel bills and culls Starmer deadwood, but peace activists warn that placing John Healey as new Chancellor shows ‘beyond doubt that the military industrial complex is in charge of Burnham’s economic policy’
Prime Minister Andy Burnham hosts his first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, London, July 21, 2026WE ARE a cost-of-living government, Prime Minister Andy Burnham told his new Cabinet today after slashing energy bills for millions.
Mr Burnham acted to cut VAT on energy bills at a cost of £850 million as his first major move in Downing Street after naming a new team purged of deadwood from Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
However, anti-war campaigners warned that his choice of inveterate warmonger John Healey as new Chancellor presaged a further attack on welfare, health and education.
In a joint statement, Stop the War Coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said: “To hand the Treasury purse strings to a man who demanded a £197 billion increase in arms and nuclear weapons spending demonstrates beyond doubt that the military industrial complex is in charge of Burnham’s economic policy.
“The arms dealers and generals are undoubtedly now in the cabinet. John Healey’s appointment as chancellor will inevitably mean huge fights over welfare, health and housing to come.
“None of the social and economic ambitions — tackling the cost-of-living crisis in particular — that Burnham claims to aspire to will be possible if an ever-growing portion of the economy is devoted to war and destruction,” the two campaigns stated.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/we-need-be-cost-living-government