Incoming UK prime minister Andy Burnham is weighing a larger-than-usual budget
later this year, with allies and advisers pushing proposals including a land
tax, utilities nationalization and more ambitious devolution. Burnham is
expected to replace Starmer on July 20. Treasury officials, after initial team
consultations, are considering combining the annual budget (normally in Oct/Nov)
with the departmental spending review, which are usually separate. Chancellor
Reeves moved last year to set department budgets a year early to boost education
and health funding. Officials say accelerating spending decisions would help
Burnham lock in policy priorities ahead of the 2029 election and map a clearer
route to his pledged 3.5% of GDP defence target, but would compress timetables
and increase pressure on future chancellors amid near-term spending uncertainty.
