ANDY BURNHAM’S first week as the UK’s Prime Minister has brought changes to VAT on domestic energy bills, business rates for pubs and a cap on bus fares. Yet due to the devolution of powers, many of these changes do not reach Wales, leading to calls for the Welsh Government to follow suit.

When Burnham walked into Downing Street on Monday, he began a steady stream of policy announcements that lasted throughout the week. He began Tuesday by announcing that VAT would be scrapped on people’s energy bills, going from 5% to 0% from October onwards. This is estimated to save £45 for households annually. The new Prime Minister said that this would help to ‘put more money in people’s pockets and bring back hope.’

This was followed by an announcement on Wednesday that single bus tickets in England will be capped at £2 from January 2027. In a statement to Parliament that same day announcing the plans, Rail Minister Lord Hendy said that this was part of the government’s commitment ‘to ensuring that buses remain affordable, reliable and accessible.’

Business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues were also slashed by 20% on Thursday, being estimated to save the average pub over £1,000 next year. However, at a time when almost two pubs are closing a day in the UK, these changes will not be introduced until April next year.

The message is clearly one of affordability for this new government. ‘Growth in every postcode’ is what Burnham pledged this week, aiming to provide room for families to deal with the cost of living and prosper.

Will this help the people of Wales?

But does this really help the people of Wales struggling with the affordability crisis?

First of all, the plans themselves have received criticism from opposition parties and even within the Labour party itself. Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch simultaneously criticised the plans for not going far enough whilst also warning that these expensive policies will lead to a rise in taxes. The cut in VAT is only estimated to save a household £45 a year, which Badenoch criticised for not being sufficient to tackle the scale of the affordability crisis.

Darren Jones, a close Keir Starmer ally, also criticised the funding of the VAT cut since the Digital ID scheme that was cut to fund it was not actually fully funded.

Hitting back at this, the UK Government has stated that the policies are fully funded. They maintain that the VAT cut will be funded by scrapping the previous Starmer government’s Digital ID scheme, generating an estimated £1.8 billion, whilst the £2 bus cap will be funded through reorganising the foreign aid system.

The cut in VAT to energy bills will also directly apply to the people of Wales. This is because the UK Government sets VAT rates across the whole of the UK.

But a lot of the other measures that Burnham announced this week come under the powers of the Welsh Senedd and not the UK Government. Business rates and bus fare caps are in the hands of Cardiff Bay rather than Westminster. Therefore, they only apply to England.

This has led to Reform UK and Welsh Labour both calling separately for the Welsh Government to follow Burnham and introduce a bus fare cap. The Welsh Conservatives had previously called on the former Welsh Labour Government to implement an immediate £2 bus fare cap. Whilst caps do already exist in Wales for 5-21 year olds and over 65s receive free bus travel, a universal £2 bus cap does not exist.

Nor, does it currently appear likely to be adopted. The Plaid Cymru Government maintained its position that ‘Wales is leading the way on affordable accessible transport,’ whilst not mentioning implementing a cap when questioned on the matter.

The Director of CAMRA Wales, a leading consumer organisation for British pubs, also urged the Welsh Government to match Burnham’s 20% business rate cut. In a statement, they said ‘pubgoers are crying out for the First Minister and Welsh Government to match the new Prime Minister’s pro-pub stance and to protect and promote our pubs as vital community hubs.’

Pubs and other food and drink hospitality businesses do already receive a 15% business rate relief scheme in Wales. However, Burnham’s plan exceeds this with an extra 5% cut, raising the question of whether the Welsh Government will match this or not.

The future of devolution

This kind of fragmentation across the UK looks set to increase as another central tenet of the Burnham government appears to be greater devolution of power away from Westminster to the regions of the UK. Whilst the specifics of this have yet to be established, Burnham spent the first Friday of his premiership working in the new Number 10 North in Manchester. This set the tone for an administration that seeks to give the regions of the UK more power to make decisions for themselves, meaning that these kinds of regional differences we have seen between Wales and the rest of the country could only increase.

Whilst Burnham’s plan for Wales is yet to be defined, the new Secretary of State for Wales, Stephen Kinnock, stated on Wednesday that he was ‘not entirely convinced’ of the Plaid government’s request for new powers over policing, justice, rail and the Crown Estate. However, given Burnham’s pro-devolution agenda and the Plaid Cymru government’s request for more devolved powers, they will likely be able to find common ground.

The Plaid Cymru First Minister, Rhun ap Iorwerth, met Burnham in Glasgow on Thursday for the opening ceremony of the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Speaking afterwards, Iorwerth struck a cautiously optimistic tone. He said that it was ‘too early’ to know what approach Burnham would take to granting Wales more powers, but did state that Burnham is ‘serious about having those conversations’ in ‘a positive and open spirit.’

As Burnham’s first week draws to a close, many of the changes he has introduced will not make it to Wales. Yet as Burnham and Iorwerth met this week to discuss what the future for Wales might look like, there is potential for agreement to be reached. We are only one week into what Burnham promised on Monday was a ‘ten year plan’ for the UK. There is therefore lots of space for the position of Wales and the power it holds to radically transform in the coming months.

A Pembrokeshire business that began after a mother grew tired of waiting three weeks for her children’s name tapes has welcomed The Princess Royal to its factory nearly four decades later

THE PRINCESS ROYAL visited National Weaving in her role as president of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, meeting the family and skilled workers behind one of Britain’s leading woven-label manufacturers.

The company produces woven labels, ribbons, badges and other branding products at its Pembrokeshire factory, supplying garment manufacturers and businesses across the UK.

Its unusual story began when Christine Astley ordered name tapes for her children and was told they would take three weeks to arrive. Her husband bought her a loom, she taught herself how to weave the tapes and the family business was born.

Today, the company is owned by Christine’s daughter Caroline Astley and her husband Jake.

The royal visit began in National Weaving’s new History Room, where The Princess Royal was shown photographs and products charting the company’s development, along with Christine’s first loom, which has been restored as a permanent exhibit.

She then met the next generation of the family, including Caroline and Jake’s niece Jessica, who demonstrated how modern label designs are created.

Jessica has worked across several departments at the business and recently travelled to Switzerland for advanced training in textile design. She showed how a microscopic camera can be used to examine woven patterns before new designs are prepared for production.

The Princess Royal was then taken onto the factory floor, where she saw how the company’s original product, the woven name tape, continues to be manufactured.

Head weaving technician Piotr, who has worked for the company for almost 25 years, joined general manager Hugh in explaining the process. National Weaving has offered a same-day service for its name tapes since the business was founded.

The tour continued in the Broadloom Department, where four Müller rapier looms produce many of the company’s designer labels.

Depending on the orders being processed, the department can manufacture between 50,000 and 100,000 labels in a single day.

Workers also demonstrated how the labels are joined, cut, folded, inspected and packed before being dispatched to garment manufacturers around the country.

The Princess Royal was shown the production of the company’s latest range of custom woven badges before meeting members of the wider workforce.

To mark the visit, she unveiled a commemorative plaque on a new loom. Caroline and Jake’s children also presented her with a gift on behalf of the family and company.

Caroline Astley said: “It is such an honour to welcome Her Royal Highness to our factory.

“We are incredibly proud of our team and the craftsmanship that goes into every product we make.

“Our thanks go to Her Royal Highness and UKFT for their continued support of British textile manufacturing and for making this visit possible.”

Paul Alger MBE, director of international business at UKFT, said the visit recognised the specialist knowledge involved in label weaving and the role labels play in communicating a product’s identity, quality and origin.

He said: “A label is far more than a finishing detail. It creates a valuable connection between a brand and its consumer, communicating identity, quality and provenance.

“Visits such as this provide an important opportunity to celebrate the depth of expertise within our industry and the businesses that continue to invest in its future.”

The visit highlighted how a small family enterprise created in Pembrokeshire has grown into a modern manufacturing operation while retaining the specialist skills on which the business was founded.

Pictures: Pembrokeshire Studio

Plans have been lodged for a Burger King outlet at the Morrisons petrol station on Bridge Meadow Lane

BURGER KING could be coming to Haverfordwest after plans for a new outlet were submitted to Pembrokeshire County Council.

Motor Fuel Group has applied for permission to carry out further redevelopment work at the Morrisons petrol filling station on Bridge Meadow Lane.

The plans would see the existing jet wash and bin store demolished and the petrol station’s sales building extended.

Drawings submitted with the application show Burger King branding on the proposed development, potentially bringing the fast-food chain to Pembrokeshire’s county town.

The application has been made by St Albans-based Motor Fuel Group through planning agents CarneySweeney.

The site sits alongside the Morrisons supermarket and is close to one of the main routes into Haverfordwest.

It follows an earlier application by Motor Fuel Group to expand and modernise the petrol station.

That scheme, approved by county planners in October 2025, included an extension to the existing sales building, a new electric vehicle charging zone, a substation, a replacement bin store and four jet-wash bays.

Documents submitted with the earlier plans described the site as an established petrol station and customer parking area within the urban area of Haverfordwest.

The latest proposal is registered under planning reference 26/0257/PA and was received by Pembrokeshire County Council on July 9.

No decision has yet been made and the application will now be considered by the council’s planning department.

If approved, the development would add another major fast-food name to the Haverfordwest area.