At first glance, Andy Burnham’s crackdown on dodgy subscription practices is unquestionably good news for consumers.

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And I should say straight away: I’ve been calling for precisely this kind of action for some time.

Millions of consumers have fallen victim to what have become known as “subscription traps”, signing up for a free or discounted trial, only to find themselves automatically rolled into a paid subscription which is then considerably easier to join than it is to cancel.

The numbers are staggering. There are around 155 million active subscriptions in the UK and consumers are estimated to be wasting £1.6 billion every year on subscriptions they simply........

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