UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch clashed over government spending and borrowing during Prime Minister’s Questions, with Badenoch accusing the Prime Minister of failing to rein in spending.
Badenoch accused Burnham of being a “people pleaser” who was unwilling to reject spending demands from his own Labour MPs, as she raised concerns about rising interest rates and the cost of servicing the government’s debt.
In her first PMQs on Wednesday, Badenoch warned that investors were “worried” as borrowing costs increased amid concerns over the government’s debt burden.
She branded Burnham a “spendthrift” Prime Minister who “wants to say yes to everyone”.
“I think it’s delightful that he wants to make everyone happy. But a prime minister needs to be a leader, not a people pleaser,” she said.
Challenged by Badenoch to name a spending request he had rejected, Burnham said he did not want to preside over a situation in which many young people in their 20s were not in education, employment or training.
“I can’t defend that, and I want to change that by giving more support to young people so that we start investing in their success rather than paying for failure, as we have done for many years under successive governments,” he said.
Badenoch pressed the Prime Minister on how he intended to fund his spending commitments, saying the government had three options: higher taxes, increased borrowing or spending cuts.
“The markets are clearly worried that we now have a spendthrift Prime Minister who wants to say yes to everyone but cannot tell us where the money is coming from,” she said.
“Yesterday, he said change begins with honesty. So, will he be honest and tell us? Is he preparing to raise taxes again? Yes or no?”
Burnham replied that his first moves had been to cut taxes but said he would not set out the details of the Budget during PMQs.
“I’ve already indicated my first moves were to cut tax, but I’m not going to do what any prime minister has done and write the Budget here. That will be the matter for the Chancellor,” he said.
He added that the government had deliberately set an early date for the Budget to reduce the period of prolonged speculation.
Badenoch said Burnham had failed to rule out tax increases and accused the government of returning to “the same old Labour politics” of “tax and spend”.
She also warned that higher government borrowing could push up borrowing costs for households, including mortgage rates, increasing pressure on the cost of living.
“Higher borrowing costs are the biggest threat to family finances, so will he rule out any more borrowing that will make people poorer?” she asked.
Burnham said the government was taking the necessary steps to reduce debt and pledged that his administration would remain “grounded in fiscal responsibility” while working to ease cost-of-living pressures.