Reform MP Richard Tice has accused Andy Burnham of doing a "bad job" over government spending costs. The comments were made during an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Thursday, where Tice was interviewed by Kate Garraway and Richard Madeley about Reform's plans for the future.
Speaking from the party's official conference in Birmingham, Tice said: "This country is broken, it needs Reform, it needs fixing."
Exchange over government borrowing costs
During the interview, Garraway noted: "As we know, government borrowing costs hit their highest level since 2008, I believe. We heard the Prime Minister talking and trying to reassure the market, and saying yesterday…"
Tice cut in: "And he's doing a terrible job at it!"
Garraway continued: "You give me your numbers that will calm the bond markets down."
Tice responded: "Yeah, absolutely. For example, we shouldn't be paying voluntary interest on all the printed money, what's called the quantity of easing money. I've talked about that for over a year, the previous Chancellor refused to do it. I hope this Chancellor [John Healey] will do the right thing."
Criticism of the Prime Minister
As Tice elaborated on Reform's intended policies, he turned the conversation back onto Burnham. "The problem is, you've got a prime minister who's been a politician since he came out of his nappies, frankly. And they are applying what they call a moron premiums for the cost of UK government debt, and that cost is going up, it's way more than under the brief tenure of Liz Truss, but many in the media seem to forget that."
Tice's comments came just hours after he faced off against Burnham during his first-ever session of Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.
