Andy Burnham, business confidence and devolution

Andy Burnham, business confidence and devolution

July 9, 2026 · 31 min

About this episode

The episode discusses business confidence in the UK amid economic uncertainty, featuring insights from IoD Chief Economist Anna Leach.

Business confidence remains fragile amid economic uncertainty and continued political speculation about the UK's economic direction. In this episode, IoD Chief Economist Anna Leach joins host Ben Walker to discuss the IoD’s latest business confidence index reading and what it tells us about the state of the economy. Together, they explore ideas being floated by Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham to boost growth, the impact of tax speculation on business confidence, and whether greater devolution can help unlock economic potential across the UK. They also discuss how political uncertainty is influencing investment decisions and what the next Prime Minister should do to rebuild business confidence.

People in this episode

Host: Ben Walker

Guest: Anna Leach

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Institute of Directors, UK

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