Is help on the way for drivers and fuel costs?published at 12:11 BST

12:11 BST

Dearbail Jordan
Senior business and economics reporter

Could there be help for drivers and fuel costs in the upcoming Budget on 28 October?

Average diesel prices are within a whisper of the highs reached after Russia's full-scale invastion of Ukraine in early 2022. Petrol costs have also climbed following the US-Israel war with Iran which has affected global oil supplies.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham was a little vague on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. He said that the conflict in the Middle East “has had an impact on people’s energy costs”.

He added: “We will now have to deal with that and support people as best we can through the Budget and we will do those things but in a way that is highly prudent with the running of the UK economy and the Chancellor of Exchequer is very, very clear about that.”

But Chancellor John Healey – while careful not to reveal what might be in his famous red box on the big day – told the Sunday Times he was aware of high petrol and diesel prices.

“I will take them into account when I make my budget decisions,” he said.

“This is part of a recognition that where government can, we’ll do what we can to offer people a bit of breathing space.”

Fuel duty was cut by 5p per litre in March 2022 by the Conservative government. The freeze has been extended but fuel duty is scheduled to rise by 3p a litre in January and 2p in March.

Tom Espiner
Business reporter

Image source, EPA

The UK was among countries facing downgraded growth forecasts in a report by the influential Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war has pushed up the cost of crude oil leading to higher fuel and energy costs, which in turn has driven up inflation around the world.

The UK economy will grow by slightly less than expected next year according to the OECD, which now expects growth of 1% rather than 1.1%.

However, it said the UK had proved more resilient than expected this year.

Andy Burnham said on Wednesday that the UK's high level of borrowing had left it "over-exposed" to global shocks.

• Read more from our business reporter here

Earlier this week Laura Kuenssberg talked to one of Keir Starmer's former cabinet ministers, who said that Andy Burnham's government needs to act with "more urgency".

Two months after being sacked in Burnham's reshuffle, former Business Secretary Peter Kyle says the government should be willing to take decisions that involve "short-term" pain in order to deliver economic growth.

He explains that this might require "honest conversations with unions" about expanding workers' rights, before changes to the Employment Rights Act come into force.

Asked if there is enough focus on growth, Kyle replies: "I don't think there is, and that isn't a criticism - it is pointing to the potential that we have as a country and as a government."

As a reminder, Chancellor John Healey is due to deliver his first Budget on 28 October, but faces rising debt costs and warnings of slower economic growth.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent

Within minutes of Burnham’s announcement, we already have an idea of how difficult it may be to secure the "cross-party consensus" the PM craves.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has told the BBC: "We do not support tax increases."

Philip says his interpretation of the PM’s interview is that Burnham inferred more tax rises will be needed to pay for this plan.

He says the Tories' position is that if the UK is to spend more money on either defence or social care, it should come from cuts to the welfare budget.

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Pledges to reform 'threadbare' social care system

Burnham is proposing a national care service for England "that works on NHS principles", and warns that "broken social care will in the end break the NHS".

Acknowledging that trust is important, Burnham says he will develop a clear plan and then put it to the public at a general election.

Refuses to commit to backing third Heathrow runway

Instead the PM dodges the question saying "it is a contested issue", "a matter for London" and "there are different views".

Burnham was previously critical about the scheme when he came to office.

Condemns Danny Tommo's 'hateful behaviour'

Burnham says: "It's hard to conclude that he's anything other than someone who has racist views", and calls the anti-migrant activist's actions "the worst kind of hateful behaviour".

Tommo, whose real name is Daniel Thomas, recently pleaded not guilty to criminal damage after a video appeared to show him slashing at a dinghy in the Channel with a knife.

Image source, Getty Images

Here's a reminder of some other pledges Andy Burnham has already made as prime minister:

• Energy bills: On his first full day in office, Burnham saidVAT on household electricity bills will be scrapped from 1 October
• Bus fares: The next day, Burnham announced that a £2 cap on bus fares in England will be reinstated from January and be in effect throughout 2027
• Pubs and clubs: Burnham said the government would give pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England a 20% cut to business rates from April and is looking into extending it for other hospitality businesses
• Ukraine: During his visit to Ukraine last month, Burnham agreed to hand over blueprints for British-made missile components - allowing Kyiv to produce the long-range weapons domestically
• Devolution: Burnham has opened No 10 North in Manchester and pledged to deliver “the biggest rebalancing of power the country has ever seen”
• Education: Pupils will be allowed early access to technical education, skills training and connections with employers from the age of 14
• Homelessness: A £442m plan to get rough sleepers off the streets by Christmas, providing them with emergency accommodation alongside practical health support

Back to our panel now, who have been reacting to the prime minister's earlier comments on plans for social care.

Asked if Andy Burnham can wait until 2029 for another general election, having already set out big ambitions for social care that may require another manifesto, Darren Jones says it's right to "take time to get it right".

Gloria De Piero says she thinks it "might actually be quite helpful" to have some proposals on social care "some time away" from another general election, to allow for a "longer conversation".

Steve Rotheram says "it is really great" the the UK has a prime minister that's "prepared to say I will take some tough decisions" on behalf of "some of the most vulnerable people".

And that wraps up the show - next week we'll be hearing from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch ahead of the Conservative party conference. Stay with us as we bring you more reaction and analysis.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

We're returning now to analysis of Andy Burnham's comments this morning.

The prime minister has criticised anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas - known as Danny Tommo - for displaying what Burnham claims is "the worst kind of hateful behaviour".

Asked if Thomas is racist, the PM says it is "hard to conclude anything but" the activist is someone who "has racist views".

Burnham concedes however that a lot of people have "real worries about immigration".

He knows his government needs to bring down the number of boat crossings - so far they are 42% down so far compared to last year, although 781 migrants arrived on small boats on a single day earlier this week.

However immigration is not the issue with which Labour traditionally wins elections - it is usually happier and more successful talking about public services like the NHS.

Kuenssberg raises regional news and coverage of less popular sports, and suggests to Brittin that the BBC should keep in investing in these areas as they are "exactly the things the the market doesn't necessarily do".

Brittin says savings will have to made “across the board” with “nothing unaffected” by spending cuts.

He says the cuts will attempt to "minimise the impact on audiences" and says in some cases migrating a TV channel to online may have limited impact of audiences.

“What’s happening is audience behaviour has fundamentally changed, the world has changed,” he says.

Image source, PA Media

We're now hearing Kuenssberg's interview with the BBC's director-general Matt Brittin.

As we reported earlier, he has warned that more channels and radio stations may have to close.

"There isn't a show or a service that doesn't have fans," he tells Kuenssberg, and acknowledges that cuts affect staff as well as audiences.

But he says it is important to "step back" and look at why this is happening.

He says the license fee funding for the BBC has fallen by £1.3bn (about 25%) over the last 10 years.

The BBC has been able to plug the gap through things like commercial proceeds from the BBC Studios business, among other things, but it has reached a point where this is "just not sustainable", he says.

He says the drop is partly because of the government freezing the license fee (responsible for about 60% of the drop), as well as fewer households paying (about 40% of the drop).

Asked where a Conservative government would get the money for fixing social care, Philp says the party has already identified "£23bn of welfare savings" that could be made.

He says the party will spell out its plans in the future ahead of the next general election, "whenever that comes".

The principle the party will apply, he says, is that if more money is needed - "for example the armed forces or social care" - it will come from "reducing other expenditure" instead of tax rises.

He says the Conservatives are a "low tax party" whereas Labour are "quite clearly still under Andy Burnham, a high tax party".

Asked where these cuts would be made, he says he will not be announcing any policies today.

Philp adds that Burnham's polices are "damaging our economy", and graduates cannot get jobs as a "direct result" of Labour's "tax and regulation" increases.

Up next in the hot seat is Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp.

Laura Kuenssberg asks him whether he is likely to back the social care sytem outlined by Burnham.

He says what he inferred from Burnham's interview is that Labour is planning "more tax rises".

"We do not support tax increases," Philp says, saying the country is already "taxed too highly". He says it is "destroying jobs" and making businesses "go bankrupt".

He says if more money is needed for social care or defence, the Tories would find it through savings elsewhere, "particularly in the welfare budget".

He says Burnham is "not prepared to make those difficult decisions".

Asked whether he's open to cross-party discussion on Burnham's proposals, Philp says: "We're always willing to sit down and work in the national interest", but calls tax increases a "red line for us".

"If anything, we want to find savings... and reduce taxes", he says, such as through abolishing residential stamp duty and business rates for small shops, pubs and restaurants on the high street.

Discussing the week's news on the panel this morning are Steve Rotheram, mayor of Liverpool city region, Gloria De Piero, GB News presenter and former Labour MP, and Keir Starmer ally and former minister Darren Jones.

Jones says says he thinks the prime minister is being "very bold" and "brave" on social care, and says the party wants to get behind the PM on the matter.

He says "these things do cost money" and so the details of the policy need to be seen.

De Piero adds that social care "will dominate the general election" and that cross-party consensus on the matter would be "really good".

Rotheram says Burnham has just "nailed the myth that he won't take difficult decisions", describing social care as one of the most "thorny issues".

He says everyone in the care system will know that "every single word that [Burnham] has just spoken is correct".

Jones adds that the government will have to "not do other things" to increase spending for social care, adding that "the triple lock is very expensive in the years ahead".

He says getting rid of the pension triple lock is "an option the government should consider".

Kuenssberg now asks Burnham about a recent comment from a government insider - that he "just loves being prime minister".

Burnham says he loves that the job allows you to "do something to help people".

He says he doesn't want the job for the status, but because of what he can do with it.

"People won't be in any doubt about what I'm trying to do," he says, adding it is "up to them" whether they agree with it.

He says he is "here to end the decade of drift and division" since Brexit, and adds that he wants to set out a "really clear direction based on honesty".

"From that can come hope," he says.

The interview with Burnham has now concluded - we'll bring you more from the other guests on the show.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent

Andy Burnham refuses to commit to backing a third runway at Heathrow.

Instead he dodges the question saying "it is a contested issue", "a matter for London" and "there are different views".

The PM was previously critical about the scheme when he came to office.

Just yesterday Heathrow warned its planned third runway might be delayed by four years due to planning and regulatory issues.

The government had previously hoped the new runway at the UK's busiest airport, estimated to cost £33bn, would open by 2035.

Will this major infrastructure project be delayed yet again?

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

Referring to protests that can be heard outside the building, at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Kuenssberg says "we're not sure what people are protesting" but that it "quite a normal thing" at party conferences.

Turning to Northern Ireland, and the ongoing protests after permission was given for Northern Ireland's Orange Order to parade down the national Garvaghy Road, Burnham says he has spoken to the Northern Ireland secretary this morning.

He says no recommendation has been received from the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland for the UK government to withdraw permission for the parade.

Burnham says his responsibility is "upholding the Good Friday agreement", a responsibility he says he "takes really seriously".

"Its a tense situation... we do appeal for calm," he adds.

Kuenssberg now asks Burnham whether he thinks Danny Tommo is a racist?

For context, this refers to anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas who comes from Hayling Island near Portsmouth. He recently pleaded not guilty to criminal damage after a video appeared to show him slashing at a dinghy in the Channel with a knife.

Burnham says: "It's hard to conclude that he's anything other than someone who has racist views."

He says he doesn't "just throw labels on people" and hasn't read everything Thomas has said and done. But he calls Thomas's actions "the worst kind of hateful behaviour".

Switching topics, Andy Burnham is asked about anti-migration protesters wearing masks who describe themselves as patriots.

Burnham calls this behaviour "unacceptable" and says it creates fear on British streets.

He says there are "real worries" about immigration, but stresses: "Let's look at the facts."

Boat crossings, he continues, are down 50% this year compared to the early 2020s.

He says he will be relentless in addressing the issue, but suggests the public should be aware of when people are "playing the worst kind of politics" with this issue that leads to people feeling afraid in their communities.

Image source, Remco van Schellen

Moving on to reports that plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport could be delayed further, the prime minister says it is "principally a matter for London".

Asked if he would back the plans, Burnham says its a "contested issue" and that the voices of people living nearby need to heard first.

"Its not right for me to just jump in," he says, adding that the government will consider the way forward following public consultation.

Burnham is now asked what he is "willing to ditch" to make the sums add up.

He says his policies are carefully thought through.

Giving examples, he says if you look at social care, "it's preventative" and means not having to spend "thousands of pounds" when people are unnecessarily in hospital.

If you support rough sleepers, that costs less than people doing in and out of police custody, he adds.

Asked about Peter Kyle's comments (urging Burnham to act with "more urgency" to boost economic growth), Burnham says Kyle is "absolutely right" and adds that he "oversaw the fastest growing economy in the country" when he was mayor of Greater Manchester.

He says Liverpool - where he is speaking from - is also growing faster than other places.

He urges people to avoid a "narrative of doom", and says the UK is the fastest-growing economy in the G7. "We're all repairing the damage of the Liz Truss mini-Budget," he adds.

"I won't do what previous Conservative governments did and take risks with the economy that are actually still hurting us right now," Burnham says.

He adds that the government will "support people as best we can through the Budget" but in a way that is "highly prudent".