Andy Burnham will enter No 10 as Prime Minister without facing questions from MPs, after Labour blocked a move to force him to face scrutiny. The Makerfield MP, who won the Labour leadership race unopposed, has been accused of dodging accountability. Conservatives claimed: "This is a man who is frit, running scared of public scrutiny."
Labour Blocks Parliamentary Vote
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch had planned to ask the House of Commons to vote on an extra sitting day next week to allow MPs to question Burnham after he becomes PM. However, Labour blocked that vote, preventing MPs from even debating the idea. Parliament will begin its summer recess on Thursday July 16, with Burnham entering Downing Street a few days later.
Burnham will be officially declared Labour leader on Friday July 17 and will meet the King to become Prime Minister on Monday July 20. He will not face MPs until the House returns on September 1.
Criticism Over Lack of Scrutiny
Shadow Commons leader Jesse Norman blasted the Government for being unable to "bear the idea of a new prime minister facing any scrutiny," adding that Burnham had been "chosen by a coronation not a contest, with no known platform, almost no known policies and no idea of his priorities or indeed his Cabinet team." Tory insiders pointed out that Burnham himself once demanded a general election when Rishi Sunak became PM without a public vote.
Commons Leader Sir Alan Campbell, who nominated Burnham, insisted he blocked the vote because he had not seen "the words of the motion," instead allowing a debate on Iran.
Burnham's Stance on EU and Past Evasions
An ardent Remainer, Burnham called for Britain to be dragged back to Brussels as recently as last year, before watering that down when contesting Makerfield, a heavily Leave-voting seat. The former Blair-era MP has form for dodging awkward questions, running away when challenged by this paper over his shifting stance on rejoining the EU. So far, MPs and the public have had to glean his plans from a question-and-answer session on Reddit, whose users have an average age of 23.
Conservative MP Alexander Stafford told the Express: "The only difference between him and the old Starmer regime is a tighter t-shirt, and that won't last very long either."
