What will PM Andy Burnham mean for food & drink policy?

Andy Burnham spoke of the historic twin role of the food industry and the government in lowering prices as he set out his vision for a Labour Party reset in Manchester last week. Blasting an economy which has “left people over-paying for the basics” he promised to bring back the spirit of the original Labour party to put things right.

“If people in 1844 could form the co-operative movement in Rochdale to lower the price of food, then why can’t we act now with similar courage to make life better?” he said.

But how would that work in 2026? And what else will Burnham in No 10 mean for today’s food & drink industry?

Business rates

With nationwide plans to “make our high streets the new symbol of Britain’s renaissance” under his (assumed) premiership, Burnhamhas pledged to reform business rates to support pubs and high street businesses – businesses that bring social benefits to communities.”

The extension of the PM’s office to a new ‘No 10 North’ in Manchester will “bring higher-density residential development to our towns” and “turn around those towns, their high streets”.

That involves raising the threshold at which firms start paying business rates from £12,000 to £18,000, lifting the tax burden entirely from many single-site operators, while giving pubs and music venues a 20% discount. This would all be funded by making online giants and warehouses pay their “fair share”.

Elaborating on LBC on Thursday last week, Burnham told Andrew Marr: “I believe there is a case for higher ­business rates on warehouses and the major developments we see on the outskirts of our cities.”

The tax cuts will “prioritise and reward the businesses that bring social benefit, the businesses that bring people together, the bars, the restaurants, the coffee shops, the hairdressers”.

Tax firm Ryan calculates it would lift 140,000 small premises out of business rates at a cost of £880m a year, a “great policy objective” but one raising funding concerns, says the firm’s property tax leader Alex Probyn.

The BRC initially welcomed Burnham’s promises, saying retailers would be “heartened” by his Manchester speech.

But with a clearer picture emerging, BRC CEO Helen Dickinson warns: “Town and city centres succeed when large and small shops thrive together, so the answer cannot be ­moving taxes from one part of retail to another. The priority must be reducing the overall burden on retail and hospitality” to support wider business objectives.

Jobs

Like jobs, for example. Hopes have been raised by a revelation from Alan Milburn – author of a recent government-commissioned report on youth employment and, like Burnham, a former health secretary – that the incoming PM has shown “appetite” to revisit employment reforms.

Just last month, supermarket bosses wrote to Starmer and Rachel Reeves urging them to act on Milburn’s report, which warned that within five years the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) could rise from one in eight to one in six a “lost generation”.

Industry bosses blame Reeves’ 2024 hike in employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%, and lowering the threshold at which businesses start paying to £5,000 for adding £6.5bn to the sector’s employment costs.

ONS data last month showed there were 2.79 million retail jobs in quarter one of 2026, 398,000 fewer than 10 years earlier.

Milburn has attacked what he calls a “spaghetti soup” of schemes, from government to job centres and youth hubs, with no effective mechanisms to boost jobs.

“I have said that I thought the weight of the burden on employers’ National Insurance wasn’t the right decision,” Burnham told BBC’s Newsnight in June.

He said last week: “I take very seriously the findings of the recent report by Alan Milburn. We need a complete rethink of how we support the next generation to succeed.”

There are also hopes his No 10 North plan, promising “growth in every postcode”, will be good for food industry jobs. It would be “the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK” to “help all places set new growth ambitions”, Burnham said.

One leading industry source says: “We’re optimistic abut Burnham’s focus and his interest in jobs and growth and his phrase of bringing in policies ‘for every postcode’. It very much chimes with the food industry, which unlike other sectors is not London-centric. The north-west and Greater Manchester have a really big food & drink manufacturing sector, so it should be at the forefront of his mind.”

Food resilience

Burnham also said he wanted to “make sure British-based companies are in a better position to win contracts”.

“We need to safeguard sovereign manufacturing and production capability across the country in critical sectors like steel, defence, energy, food and farming – rather than just being prepared to let it go as we have sadly done in the past.”

Such talks has boosted hopes in the industry that a sector widely seen as under-prioritised by successive governments may receive more focus under Burnham.

The NFU, BRC, FDF and UKHospitality this week seized the moment by urging Burnham to back a five-point plan for a “more resilient and affordable food system”, arguing that a sector that supports more than four million jobs needs much greater priority to protect it from from future food shocks.

“Farmers and growers need to know they’ll have the workforce they rely on, regulation which supports efficiency and growth, and a planning system that drives investment in much-needed farm infrastructure,” says NFU president Tom Bradshaw.

BRC director of food & sustainability Andrew Opie says government must remove “some of the hurdles which hold back British farmers including [unnecessary] costs, planning restrictions, and reducing friction in EU realignment”.

Provision Trade Federation director general Rod Addy says Burnham has “recognised agri-food as a strategic national industry, linked to resilience and economic security.

“With Defra’s minister of state Angela Eagle having moved to a security role in government, are we then likely to see food and the food industry assuming a higher priority as a facet of national security? The opportunity is certainly there.”

One leading source has doubts, however: “For someone who’s been a political A-lister for decades, it’s remarkably difficult to pin down what Burnham thinks.”

But James Walton, IGD chief economist, argues Burnham’s time as mayor of Manchester is significant. The advent of ‘Manchesterism’, with its focus on more public control of services, local clusters of economic development and focus on national production and self-sufficiency in strategic economic areas, are indicators of intent elsewhere, Walton says.

Health

Burnham has a long track record on health, as both former health secretary under Gordon Brown and shadow secretary under Ed Miliband.

The latter spell saw Burnham lead calls for action on the industry to tackle obesity, including 2015 proposals for a clampdown on salt, fat and sugar levels in foods targeted at children. He was also a protagonist in calls for the ­introduction of the 9pm junk food advertising watershed, in the spotlight this week amid claims it has been “watered down”.

Burnham accused the Tory government of being “too close to commercial interests” and “too reliant” on the voluntary Responsibility Deal.

As Manchester mayor he announced policies to restrict junk food advertising across the city’s public transport network, pledging to “take the fight to the junk food giants”.

All eyes will be on his next steps with the 10-year NHS plan, launched last year by then health secretary Wes Streeting, who has backed Burnham’s candidacy after quitting his post to try to oust Keir Starmer.

The government is locked in a dispute over plans to shift to a new nutrient profiling model (NPM), underpinning restrictions on junk food advertising and promotions in stores. The new model would reclassify tens of thousand of products as high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS), adding enormous costs and driving up prices, retailers and suppliers claim – impacting just the sort of hard up consumer Burnham has pledged to protect.

Meanwhile plans for mandatory health reporting by all major food companies are believed to be on hold pending Burnham’s No 10 arrival.

Sources say his backing of “localism” and devolved powers could mean more targeted interventions for the poorest areas, as endorsed by chief medical officer Chris Whitty.

There is also speculation his premiership could see a return for Daniel Zeichner, the widely respected former health minister who was spearheading the food strategy before being dumped by Starmer last year.

Zeichner, a loyal Burnham supporter, is believed to be keen to return to the role.