UK's Burnham vows crackdown on misleading discounts and subscription traps

Britain's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Sunday he would crack down on misleading product discounts and subscription traps as part of a broader push to ease pressure on household finances.



Burnham wants to deliver improvements in living standards after a decade marked by unprecedented political instability, during which Britain had seven prime ministers and households saw little improvement in their spending power.



Since taking power on July 20, Burnham has removed a tax from domestic electricity bills, capped bus fares and lowered business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues, eager to show that he can act more decisively than his predecessor Keir Starmer.



He plans to ban retailers from making misleading claims to shoppers about discounts, which make savings look larger than the real deal.



The government will launch a consultation to assess whether tactics such as fake claims about previous prices, invented discounts and misleading recommended retail prices should be added to the list of practices banned under existing legislation.