Andy Burnham has promised more cost-of-living support is on the way as his chancellor vowed to stop the public being “taken for a ride” on food and petrol prices.
The prime minister pledged to do “whatever I can” to “take a little bit of pressure down” after hearing voters talk about “how tough life was” on the doorstep.
It comes after Mr Burnham began his tenure in Downing Street with a spate of measures aimed at reducing costs for families, including a cut in VAT on energy bills and reduced business rates for pubs.
“People on whose doors I was knocking, only about five, six weeks ago, they did get over to me how tough life was,” he told the Mirror. “Can’t go for drink any more. Can’t take the kids out. Not having a holiday this year.
“I heard those type of things being said throughout the campaign, and those comments were still ringing in my ears as I arrived in Downing Street.”
The prime minister said “outrageously” high rail fares were “in my sights”, but added he would not give people “false promises”.
“It’s about looking across the piece,” he said. “Not giving people false promises, but being honest with them and saying, ‘Well, I’ll do whatever I can in all of these different areas just to take a little bit of pressure down’.”
Meanwhile, chancellor John Healey said he would be “watching closely” to protect the public from “price gouging” at the petrol pump and in supermarkets as the war in Iran continues to hit prices.
Mr Healey conceded that “we can’t completely stop the squeeze” on families and businesses amid Mr Burnham’s efforts to show he will focus on tackling the cost of living since taking office.
However, he signalled he would be ready to intervene to protect consumers from unfair price rises at home.
“We’ll be watching closely for any suggestions that customers are being taken for a ride at the pump or the till,” Mr Healey wrote in The Telegraph.
“Companies’ willingness to work with the government throughout this crisis has been positive, and there has been no significant evidence of so-called price gouging, but I want to be blunt in reassuring the public that our regulators have the powers to clamp down on it if it happens.”
The start of Mr Burnham’s premiership has seen him announce a succession of measures aimed at alleviating cost of living pressures, such as a cut in VAT on energy bills and capping bus fares at £2 throughout 2027.
The measures Mr Burnham has unveiled, including an expansion of technical training in schools, are likely to require additional spending.
Mr Healey promised that his first Budget would be “built on fiscal discipline” as he revealed that it would take place on 28 October.
He and the prime minister have written to the cabinet to make clear there is no new money coming for the fresh pledges, he told The Times.
Departments need to be ready to “shift funding away from unproductive or legacy programmes that no longer reflect this administration’s priorities”, he wrote in the letter.