Kemi Badenoch has declared that Andy Burnham must not spend the summer dodging scrutiny over his radical plans after two years of chaos under Labour. The Tory leader warned that millions of people are still in the dark about his priorities.
Burnham to Unveil Economic Vision
On Monday, the former mayor of Greater Manchester will set out his economic vision, in part to allay market fears of a borrowing bonanza and rash spending sprees. Badenoch insisted that “Britain has already paid the price for a Labour Prime Minister who entered office without a plan”, adding that Burnham must face MPs before Parliament breaks for the summer.
Burnham is set to “commit to a 10-year mission to raise living standards through reindustrialisation, housing, infrastructure and reform of essential utilities”. Allies of the 56-year-old, who could become prime minister within weeks, insist he will “give Britain the circuit-breaker it needs”.
Badenoch Calls for Parliamentary Scrutiny
Badenoch said: “Britain has already paid the price for a Labour Prime Minister who entered office without a plan. We cannot let the same thing happen again. Andy Burnham is days away from taking charge of the country and still has not told people the basics: Will he stick to the Labour manifesto? Will he borrow even more money? Will he fund the Defence Investment Plan so that our country is not at risk?
“The new prime minister should come to Parliament and set out his priorities before summer recess. This only needs one extra day. A speech full of warm words to a friendly crowd is not a substitute for speaking at the despatch box, where MPs can question the substance of what he has said.
“If Andy Burnham wants to lead the country, he should be brave enough to answer MPs representing the length and breadth of the country on his plans for all our lives. Britain should not have to wait until September to find out what he intends to do – unless of course he himself does not know yet.”
Plans for Devolution and Migration
As expected, Burnham will confirm plans to create a “No 10 North” to hand local mayors more power and “co-ordinate long-term economic renewal”. He will oversee “the biggest transfer of power out of Whitehall in modern times”.
Reform’s Zia Yusuf also challenged Burnham to put his policy agenda to the test. Reform's home affairs spokesman vowed to tear up Shabana Mahmood’s plans to allow communities to “sponsor” up to 10,000 refugees. This new “safe and legal route” would allow migrants to move to Britain. Yusuf said: “We are putting Burnham on notice: Reform will reverse this scheme. If he really believes the British people want it, he should put it in his manifesto and call a general election. If he fails to do so, when voters do get their say, if they choose a Reform government, this illegitimate scheme will be reversed. Nobody Burnham imports through this illegitimate scheme will be allowed to stay in Britain. We cannot go on like this. Andy Burnham must do the right thing and call a general election.”
Labour Denies Stitch-Up
Senior Labour MPs were on Sunday denying claims of a stitch-up, insisting the public does not want a general election. Housing Secretary Steve Reed suggested Sir Keir Starmer’s likely successor would introduce “changes in emphasis” but stick to the “fundamentals” like the Government’s rules on borrowing. Reed, who has been a key Starmer ally and cautioned against replacing him as recently as last month, said Labour would stand “four square behind Andy to deliver the change this country voted for two years ago”.
“The public do not want a general election, and that’s not just my instinct. You can look at the polls that tell us the vast majority do not. They want us to get on with the job,” he told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.
Burnham backer Lucy Powell said she had spoken to the former mayor of Greater Manchester in recent days and he was “very keen” on changing the culture in Labour, which she has previously described as a “boys’ club” with too many anonymous briefings to the media. “I think we’ve seen one of the reasons Andy is so well-known, and he’s so popular and well-liked, is because he has built up over a long period of time a sense of clear purpose and a sense of whose side he is on,” she said.
Powell rejected suggestions of hypocrisy after she called on the Tories to hold a general election when they changed leader following Liz Truss’s resignation in 2022. “I think what people actually want to see now is us getting on with the job, delivering on the manifesto that we were elected on only two years ago, a very bold and radical manifesto that’s still got many things in it we need to follow through on,” she told the BBC.
Unless a candidate emerges to challenge Burnham for the Labour leadership, he is likely to enter Downing Street as soon as July 20.
