Andy Burnham proposes TV licence subsidies and high‑street business‑rate reforms

Andy Burnham, the Labour Party’s prime‑minister‑in‑waiting and former Manchester mayor, is reported to be backing two major policy initiatives. He could support reforms to the BBC TV licence fee that would lower costs for low‑income households, possibly through subsidies, extend the charge to streaming‑service users and shift more production and commissioning power out of London to regional centres such as Salford, Cardiff and Glasgow.

Burnham is also proposing an overhaul of business rates to aid small high‑street firms. The plan would raise the threshold for 100 % small‑business rates relief from £12,000 to £18,000 and extend tapered relief up to £21,000, potentially exempting more than 140,000 premises and saving about £880 million a year. Funding would come from higher property taxes on large warehouses and online‑giant logistics sites, targeting companies such as Amazon.