Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to “pull every single lever” to reduce the cost of living, announcing new measures to tackle subscription traps and deceptive discounts. The moves come ahead of a summer tour of the UK, where he will focus on “everyday fixes” to ease financial pressures on households.
New measures to protect consumers
The government will require companies to make it easier to cancel subscriptions and provide more information about costs up-front, rather than quietly auto-renewing at a higher price. These changes, initially announced in April under Sir Keir Starmer, were expected to come into force next spring, but will now be introduced in January.
Additionally, a consultation will be launched this autumn on adding deceptive discount offers to the Competition and Markets Authority’s list of banned practices. This would empower the watchdog to punish firms that artificially inflate prices and then offer a “discount” to make products appear better value.
Prime Minister's commitment
Mr Burnham said: “I know people are sick and tired of rip-off discounts and subscription traps. Westminster has got used to telling people that everyday hassles like this are just part of life. I don’t think that’s right, especially when the cost of living continues to weigh heavily on so many people’s lives. I’m determined to pull every single lever we can to provide people with some room to breathe on the cost of living.”
The action on subscriptions and “phoney bargains” were “just two of the everyday fixes we’re going to be rolling out”, he promised.
Support and criticism
Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, welcomed the proposals, saying subscription traps and deceptive discounts were “a widespread problem”. Citizens Advice has previously found that 26% of UK adults had accidentally taken out a subscription in a single year, with the government estimating its action could save households £14 per month.
Further announcements are expected over the summer, with the Prime Minister describing Monday’s proposals as “just the start”. However, opposition figures have criticised the plans as a “vanity tour” offering only “tinkering”. Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Andy Burnham has already run out of ideas. The cost of living didn’t become a problem last week, so you have to ask why it has taken Labour so long to enact legislation passed by the previous government. Labour’s tax hikes have sent costs soaring for hardworking families and destroyed jobs. Consultations and reheated measures won’t make up for that.”
Lib Dem Treasury spokeswoman Daisy Cooper said: “We Liberal Democrats have long called for stronger consumer protections and we want to see the Government go further. If the new PM is serious about this, he should introduce strengthened protections against rogue traders, make energy bills fairer by giving everyone a discount on their essential usage, and clamp down on the big supermarkets’ unfair shrinkflation tactics.”
Green Party leader Zack Polanski criticised the Prime Minister for failing to convene a meeting of the Cobra crisis committee to deal with the impact of the summer heatwave and drought. He said: “This is the greatest crisis this country has faced since the Second World War and to complacently dismiss the demands for immediate action by saying everything is under control is gross negligence, blatantly untrue and misses the severity of the crisis.”
