Andy Burnham has revealed he will give 15% of his prime ministerial salary to charities and causes that tackle homelessness.
When he entered Downing Street last month, the first pledge Burnham made was to end rough sleeping in Britain, and this week he announced plans to get all rough sleepers off the streets before Christmas.
Now, Burnham has said he will “lead from the front” in tackling homelessness by donating 15% of the £75,440 salary he takes home as prime minister to homelessness charities and causes.
Speaking to Big Issue on a visit to homelessness charity Changing Lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on Wednesday, Burnham said: “I wouldn’t want to ask anybody to do anything that I’m not prepared to do. I want to lead from the front.
“This issue matters massively to me. I don’t want to live in a country where walking past people sleeping rough just becomes commonplace and we almost say: ‘Well, that’s it, there’s nothing we can do.’
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“There are things that we can do. We proved it in the pandemic. We should do it again now and it should just be what we do all the time.”
Donating his salary has been a long-standing commitment of Burnham’s during his time in politics.
When he became mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham donated 15% of his £110,000 annual salary every year to a charity helping those living on the streets in the area.
More recently, Burnham said he would donate 15% of the £98,599.31 he earns as MP for Makerfield to local causes in the area.
After being elected Makerfield MP in June, Burnham said: “One thing that I want to continue from my time as mayor of Greater Manchester is donating 15 per cent of my salary.
“I did that for nine years as mayor to tackle homelessness in Greater Manchester and I am going to carry it forward as MP for Makerfield but this time donating to worthy local causes at the heart of our communities.”