Burnham talks of radical change, but Treasury mood music says otherwise

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The chancellor, John Healey, left, talks to Andy Burnham during a visit to a family centre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in July. Photograph: Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA View image in fullscreen The chancellor, John Healey, left, talks to Andy Burnham during a visit to a family centre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in July. Photograph: Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA Economics viewpoint Economic growth (GDP) Burnham talks of radical change, but Treasury mood music says otherwise Heather Stewart Bond market volatility means John Healey will have to take tough decisions, soon, if he wants to meet spending pledges

I n John Healey’s bright Treasury office, overlooking St James’s Park, the artwork has not changed since his predecessor, Rachel Reeves, selected a row of Bridget Riley prints in her feminist rehang . Judging by the signals emerging from No 11 about the chancellor’s 28 October budget, not much else has changed either.

Voters listening to Andy Burnham’s promises to overthrow 40 years of neoliberalism and vanquish the ghost of Margaret Thatcher would be excused for expecting a radical policy reset. Early signs suggest they may be disappointed.

Healey will give a speech about growth policy on Monday in his bluff, reassuring style, less than six months on from Reeves’s Mais lecture . He is expected to lean heavily on two of her favourite themes: investment and devolution.

That’s hardly surprising. The UK economy has been held back by decades of underinvestment, and growth has been far too concentrated in London and the south-east.