Burnham vows to change Britain, but his exclusive LBC interview leaves one big question: How?

He confirmed that he will stick with Labour’s 2024 manifesto, which promised no rises to VAT, income tax or national insurance, but he did say there was some wiggle room on business rates.

He said he wants to raise these in some places, specifically on warehouses, and then lower them — or even completely remove them — for some high street businesses.

He also said that he wants to move some public services into public control, announced that he won’t make “crude” cuts to welfare, and committed to funding the £5bn black hole in defence that was left by Keir Starmer — but did say that he didn’t know about this gap until the defence investment plan was published on Tuesday.

He also spoke extensively about changing politics, about offering the country something new.

“Britain does need something different. We've had a decade where politics really has not been working for people at all. We can't do more of the same,” he told Andrew Marr, adding that his generation of politicians has “failed” and needs to offer something better.

But the echoing question after all his statements, be they philosophical statements about the state of politics or more specific policy ambitions, is “how?”

How will he create a Number 10 in the North, when? How will he fund his devolution plans? How is he going to find money for the defense investment plan?

How will he make politics better — and how will he prove he’s the man to do that, when he is about to become prime minister without a contest?

The second question — that is main even more pertinent with a lack of contest — is, is any of this too different from what Keir Starmer promised?

Granted, Burnham’s focus on devolution is different to Starmer’s. But for the most part, there were huge echoes of the current prime minister.

“He just re-announced the manifesto,” one Labour MP texted in.

For Andy Burnham’s premiership to work, he is going to have to be full-steam-ahead in his promised sweeping political and economic reforms.

Both his MPs and the public are going to watch like a hawk for any sign of delay, for a smidge of a u-turn or a hint that he’s not serious about his vowed political revolution.

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Bethany Dawson is LBC's Political Correspondent.

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