Energy bills, business rates and HS2: What are Burnham's potential policies?

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: Energy bills, business rates and HS2: What are Burnham's potential policies? 14 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleHarry Farley ,Political correspondentandJames Gregory ,Political reporterPA MediaAndy Burnham's victory in the Makerfield by-election means there is now a real prospect he will challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the leadership of the Labour Party - and the country. During the by-election campaign, he set out a number of policy ideas.

Burnham committed to the economic rules Chancellor Rachel Reeves set, in a signal that if he became PM, he would not oversee a large rise in borrowing. And he has also committed to Labour's manifesto promise not to increase the main rates of income tax, VAT or National Insurance, which would limit his ability to raise significant sums from tax. Helen Miller, director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: "Whoever is the prime minister, they will find that, within the fiscal rules, there is very limited scope to increase spending on a particular area without cutting back spending elsewhere or raising taxes.

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"There are still many areas of policy which Burnham has not covered during his campaign, but here are some of the changes he might try to implement if he enters Downing Street. Live: Andy Burnham wins Makerfield by-election, paving way for him to challenge Starmer as Labour leaderBurnham's emphatic win leaves Starmer and Labour MPs with big decisionPublic control of water, energy and transportBurnham has repeatedly advocated bringing water "back under stronger public control", pointing to the Greater Manchester bus network, which is run by private operators but has public oversight and control, as a model. He has, however, advocated public ownership for companies like Thames Water.

"We do need to bring down water bills, energy bills, rail fares, just as we brought down bus fares in Greater Manchester, to make life more affordable for people," he said in his victory speech after winning the Makerfield seat. The government estimated the cost of nationalising the water industry as a whole would be £100bn, although that has been disputed by some think tanks. But if a Burnham government followed the plan of bringing rail companies under public ownership gradually as their contracts came up for renewal - which Louise Haigh, who ran Burnham's campaign, instigated when she was transport secretary - that could reduce the cost significantly.

It's hard to put a figure on how much "stronger public control" - without nationalisation - of key utilities would cost without more detail. Social careBurnham has been a long term supporter of reform to social care, dating back to his time as a health minister under Tony Blair in 2006-07 and then health secretary under Gordon Brown in 2009-2010.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.