Good Morning Britain interview with Susanna Reid: energy bills, the triple lock and social care
Video: YouTube: Good Morning Britain (official channel). Retrieved 7 Oct 2026.
The words of Andy Burnham. Transcript from the video's captions, fetched on 2026-10-07; not an official record. Captions do not say who is speaking: Polifiles assigned each turn by reading the captions, without checking the audio. Good Morning Britain's upload of the interview recorded at the Labour conference in Liverpool on the afternoon of his speech and broadcast the next morning, from the first question to his last answer about his father. The rest of the 23-minute upload is left out: a studio discussion with the political correspondent Louisa James, then two viewers, Hillary and Jackie, talking about energy bills and caring, with a short replay of part of the interview. The presenter is named in the captions ("Oh, Susanna") and the programme's "my interview with Andy Burnham yesterday afternoon". The upload looks edited in places (answers that start mid-sentence, such as "the typical politician" and "lock, but we're adjusting the triple lock"), and the captions run the two voices together after "I can't predict the world": those fragments are assigned by meaning, not by the '>>' marks, and her short acknowledgements ("Okay", "Yes", "Yeah") are kept apart from his answers. Trimmed: ends at "but I hope I did him proud.". Questions are shown in grey boxes. Tap a marked sentence to see the label and its sources. Other speakers' full contributions are in the video.
Not this year, not next year. I've got to get on with the job cuz I don't think people want Britain to go into another big political argument. I've got a manifesto to implement and I will, but I've also got to lay plans for the future. Britain has been in the wrong place and as I argued today, we need a new path, a completely new path.
We can't fix everything overnight. We need to put plans down to put water under public control, energy, fix social care. It's a big vision.
Well, I am operating because that's about trust in politics, isn't it? If I came in and said, "Oh, you know what? That was then and here's a different program." That wouldn't be true to what I said today, which is about doing politics in the right way, keeping people's trust, being honest with them. That's my approach. When the time comes to put the plan for the National Care Service on the table and ask for people's support, well, obviously I will do that, but we're not at that time and I don't think people want a general election now.
We've got loads to do to fix, for instance, getting the railways working properly with the nationalization program underway there, addressing the main issue, the cost of living pressure that the country is under. I took a decision within days of coming into Downing Street to take VAT off electricity bills and that comes off on Thursday. I would be the first to say that is not the be-all and end-all. It's a small measure, but at least it shows what I'm trying to do.
That's the average, but obviously it depends on
how much energy you use.
Ceremonial, not rated: Interjection ('in a year?') in the middle of his reply; the answer only finishes the sentence begun under x03.
Well, it's very hard, isn't it? And what we've got to do is address the root cause, which is the conflict in the Middle East, which is causing a lot of pressure when it comes to the cost of energy, the cost of fuel, fuel at the pump this week, I know, cuz I'm hearing the feedback, has gone uh over £2 a liter, and people are struggling with that. I can't deal with all of those things. I can't fix all of those things straight away. We can do what we can, uh and I did um agree last week to provide some support uh to the Saudi government who are trying to protect their energy infrastructure from damage.
These things matter. Getting the Strait of Hormuz matters, and I spoke to President Trump about that uh last last week. So, I can't fix everything. All's I can do is do things that are under my control. I have made the move on VAT, but a lot more is needed.
No, I I don't want to say that to her. That would be defeatist and wrong from somebody in my position. I've got to do what I can, as I said, you know, I I very much uh hear her voice. There is a budget coming up. It's about a month away, and we will look at what we can do to give people more breathing space.
It's difficult. I'll be honest with you, you know, the public finances, people can see the pressure that they are under. They can see the financial situation around the world. Again, there are global pressures at play here, but I'm not making excuses. I'm leading a cost of living government.
That is our priority. We're doing what we can to help people when we can.
No, no.
Yeah, that's when the general next general election will be.
I will have done everything I can possibly do to make them better off. I can't predict the world.
what will happen
East. I can't
but you may use for people who use more, that figure is a lot higher for people who use more. It depends on how much you you use.
Ceremonial, not rated: Overlapping captions: the question is run together from fragments ('energy bills beyond Well, what happened to cutting 45 pounds?'), so what it asked cannot be read reliably. The reply repeats that the £45 figure is higher for bigger users.
Because I can't guarantee what happens between Russia and Ukraine. I can't guarantee what happens in the Middle East. I can do what I can to provide leadership and support, and I have provided that to President Zelensky. We are doing what we can to help in the Middle East. What we then got to do is at home everything possible to take pressure off people, and I'm looking at what I can do working with the Chancellor as we get towards the next budget.
the typical politician. Obviously, those are matters for the budget. We are looking at all of those pressures on people, the cost of living moves that we could make, and we're judging what is possible. Nobody would applaud me if we did what a previous uh Prime Minister and government did, which was to make unfunded commitments at a budget, and then that damaged people's mortgages, and I don't think people would want me to go down that path. Of course, I've got to balance these things, but always be prudent when it comes to the running of the economy and making sure that we we stick within our fiscal rules.
I mean it's it's always possible to do things, isn't it, to help people, but I can't answer you.
I will and I've tried today. I've given a speech in this hall today which I think most people would say was not a typical party conference speech. I tried to address people directly on issues uh that I think the country needs
I can't give you to pass on to Hillary details of the budget because that has an impact on markets and it has to be done in the right way and it does have to be done in the right way because then you can cause a problem
in terms of further pressures uh that may then impact on people's finances.
lock, but we're adjusting the triple lock. Now, again, it sounds technical, but I need to explain it. So, three things are involved in the triple lock: prices, earnings, and 2.5% and every year the pension rises, as you know, according to which one of those is is is highest.
No, it's not taken out completely. So, it is an adjustment. So, the thing is, the way the current triple lock works is it's really driving the pension up, which is a good thing. By 2030 it will be at record levels and at that point, if we adjust it in the way that I'm describing, it will then hold the pension there. The thing that people might notice is the triple lock has had the effect of taking pensioners into tax.
So, because of the tax threshold
uh being where it is, some basic pension state pension uh pensioners will come into tax. And we're saying as a government, "Well, we shouldn't do that. And we will won't take that tax off them."
No, but I'm just describing that situation to you to show how the the state pension is is increasing.
Well, I think you've got it completely wrong, really, if you don't mind me saying, to put it like that. Because I have put out today a vision for a national care service. There are pensioners out there who watch your program who are paying for care costs from their basic state pension. Now, is that right or fair? Is it right or fair that people who have dementia are treated very differently from people who have cancer, where they're left paying all of this money out for the basic care that they need?
I don't think that's fair. And maybe not everyone who watches has been through this yet, but we've just been through this as a family. And when you do go through it as a family, you see the state of social care in this country. The care isn't where it should be. 15-minute uh parcels of care.
I'm not blaming the carers, by the way. They are magnificent, what they did for my dad. Absolutely magnificent. But, they are working in a broken system trying to hold it together. You know, it's just not right that people who care for other people's parents are doing so on poverty pay.
We have to fix this system. But, what I'm saying about the triple lock enables a better support, better care for people in their homes, no care charges. So, please let me just make that point, that people need to see these things in the round. It's a better deal for older people going forward.
Oh, Susanna, that's a a question and a half. I um think he would say that you know, everything came together there, and I said that to my mom, life came full circle for us all as a family. That was what we've all talked about over the years. Some of the things that I was talking about in this speech, and obviously we all hail from here. Um this is, you know, where my my family is is from.
Um yeah, it's it's hard to put into words. I made a decision, should I talk about it, should I not? I wasn't seeking sympathy, but it's his funeral on Friday, and I I just felt it would be wrong not to talk about him. It I think people the country needs to see me give an an account of myself as to who I am. Why do I believe what I believe?
Why do I put these things uh forward? And it all comes from uh my mom and my dad and the way they brought us up, and you know, he had a quiet patriotism that I describe as being the kind of kind of Britain that my dad represented is the one I want to fight for as Prime Minister, and I will fight for it as Prime Minister. It was um emotional, and it was hard, but I hope I did him proud.