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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Polly Toynbee

My advice for Burnham’s first budget? Hit the banks – and hit them hard

Andy Burnham and John Healey
John Healey (right) and Andy Burnham are understood to be planning to raise taxes on banks. Photograph: Ian Vogler/AFP/Getty Images

Vibes matter. We live by how we feel – an idea that orthodox economics gets wrong and Andy Burnham’s first budget looks set to get right.

This walking good-vibes maestro is spreading a confetti of small good deeds. These may not shift the dial yet on 40 years of neoliberal economics, but they show the way he’s heading. Eyecatching everyday things – from capping bus fares to that small but resonant sum of £45 VAT on average off electricity bills – get people talking, alongside bigger plans for a national care service, electoral reform and a possible journey back to the EU.

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