Burnham to visit Wales on cost-of-living tour

Andy Burnham will head to South Wales on Thursday as he continues his summer tour of the UK.

The Prime Minister is expected to spend the morning talking to Welsh workers and apprentices as part of a “listening tour” that has seen him travel across the country to speak to voters about the cost of living.

The tour has already seen him accelerate plans to tackle “everyday frustrations” such as subscription traps, after he made addressing the cost of living a key priority on entering Downing Street last month.

Later in the week, No. 10 said he would set out action on “rogue operators causing misery to millions of people across the country struggling with rip-off prices”.

The Prime Minister said: “I am in South Wales today because the answers to the UK’s challenges will not come from an echo chamber.

“They will come from the places that know their own strengths, and from a Government willing to listen and then act.

“Good jobs in every community, in every part of the UK. That is what I want every leader in this country signed up to.”

Thursday will also see Mr Burnham announce plans to bring together the leaders of the UK’s devolved governments to discuss efforts to boost growth across the country.

He is expected to convene the first ministers of Wales and Scotland, along with the first minister and deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, at a meeting in October.

He will also convene another meeting of the National Economic Council, a Gordon Brown-era body Mr Burnham revived in his first week in office, to discuss stronger collaboration between Westminster and the devolved governments.

But Mr Burnham has faced criticism from the SNP for not including Scotland in his summer tour.

Although the Prime Minister visited Glasgow in his first week in office, he has yet to visit the country as part of the “listening tour” he began earlier in August.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney said he was “surprised” by the omission, adding that Scottish people would want to tell the Prime Minister they are “deeply concerned” about rising energy bills.

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