Andy Burnham’s summer tour of the United Kingdom, which begins this week, has two goals.

The first is presentational. Leaders only have limited time to determine their reputation and he wants to meet the people he now governs. But even that presents risks – the capacity of a pithy heckler to deflate politicians is well-documented.

Far more challenging, however, is the message he brings with him. That this isn’t just the Andy Burnham Experience, it’s a “Cost of Living Tour”.

Burnham is right that the cost of living is a high priority to millions of Britons. He has also already displayed more understanding of the public’s priorities in his first couple of weeks than Keir Starmer managed in two years.

Hence early announcements about plans to reduce bus fares and temporarily cut VAT on electricity bills, which he presented to the electorate as a way to create “breathing space”.

Since then we’ve seen more along similar lines: most recently the new government accelerated Starmer’s planned restrictions on “subscription traps”, where consumers are stopped from cancelling subscriptions they no longer want.

Such measures are better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. But they also have their limits; ministers say the subscription rules (among other “rip-off” business practices being targeted) will save the public an estimated £400 million a year. That’s a lot of money, and not to be sniffed at, but in practice it amounts to a........

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