Burnham tells cabinet to tackle living costs at first meeting

Burnham was given a round of applause by his senior ministers earlier, as he opened the first meeting of his new cabinet after appointing his top team on Monday evening. More junior picks are expected to follow on Tuesday.

Monday’s wide-ranging reshuffle saw Starmer loyalists such as Rachel Reeves and David Lammy out of government, with Ed Miliband promoted to foreign secretary and Burnham ally Louise Haigh given a big job running the Cabinet Office.

In a move that took Westminster by surprise, John Healey, who resigned as Starmer’s defence secretary in a row over military spending, has been given the crucial role of chancellor.

Speaking at the start of the meeting attended by broadcasters, Burnham said the cost of living would be an early priority, with further measures to be announced in the coming days.

He said he would be asking ministers to come up with suggestions to lower costs to households, adding: “There are things can be done, big and small.”

He insisted his government would always show “how we are going to pay for” policies, adding “discipline” would be required to show that it was committed to sticking by its tax and spending rules.

But he conceded that funding new announcements ahead of his first Budget, where big tax decisions are made, would require ministers to be “prepared to reprioritise” how they allocate their budgets.

This was also reflected in Burnham’s first announcement on Monday, a further £340m to tackle rough sleeping over five years, which is expected to be funded within “uncommitted” spending at the housing department.