Kemi Badenoch has accused the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, of governing like he is still the mayor of Greater Manchester, launching a “spending spree” of early promises without explaining how they would be paid for.
Speaking in London on Thursday, the Conservative leader said Burnham needed to “lift his sights to broader things”, including defence funding and lower energy costs for businesses, and called on him to rule out tax rises at the autumn Budget. “He doesn’t actually know what he wants to do, he is thinking out loud. All that we know is it’s going to cost a lot of money,” she added.
“Badenoch attacks Burnham's £1.8bn spending spree; Harman urges him to build bridges with sacked Starmerites.”
Burnham’s first days in office have been marked by a flurry of interventions projected to cost around £1.8bn in total. His policies include restoring a £2 cap on bus fares in England, cutting VAT on household electricity bills, reducing business rates for pubs and live music venues, and finding more accommodation for rough sleepers. He told his newly assembled cabinet on Tuesday “we need to be a cost of living government”, billing his policy blitz as a first move to give people “breathing space”.
Labour defended his announcements, saying he was “bringing back hope after Kemi Badenoch’s Tory Party nearly broke Britain”. The government insists the plans are funded through a combination of savings, reallocation of money within existing budgets and future tax hikes on “anti-social businesses”.
Badenoch also criticised Burnham for “floating” possible future policies such as social care free at the point of use, a huge expansion in council house building, and increasing the tax-free personal allowance. “Andy Burnham’s ambitions for Britain are too small,” she said.
Meanwhile, Baroness Harriet Harman has urged Burnham to “build bridges” with the Starmerite minister he sacked during his reshuffle. Speaking on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Harman pointed to Darren Jones as an example of a figure the prime minister should reach out to.
Burnham, who became Greater Manchester’s first elected mayor in 2017, has sought to put his near decade-long stint in charge of the city-region at the heart of his Downing Street agenda. As mayor, he kept a £2 bus fare cap in place when the Starmer government raised the England-wide limit to £3, and has cited the city-region’s franchised bus operating model as a possible template for regulating the water and energy sectors. Whether he can now broaden his approach to satisfy both his critics and former allies remains an open question.