Kemi Badenoch has accused Andy Burnham of governing like he is still the mayor of Greater Manchester, with a “spending spree” of early promises.
The Conservative leader said the new prime minister had failed to explain how a series of measures announced during his first days in office could be paid for.
Burnham’s early policies include restoring a £2 cap on bus fares in England and cutting VAT on household electricity bills.
Labour defended his announcements, adding he was “bringing back hope after Kemi Badenoch’s Tory Party nearly broke Britain”.
Burnham told his newly assembled cabinet on Tuesday “we need to be a cost of living government” and he has billed his policy blitz as a first move to give people “breathing space”, promising further support when wider tax and spending decisions are made.
Alongside the bus fare cap and energy VAT cut, he has also announced plans to cut business rates paid by pubs and live music venues and find more accommodation to house rough sleepers, in interventions projected to cost around £1.8bn in total.
The government says the plans, funded through a combination of savings, reallocation of money within existing budgets and future tax hikes on “anti-social businesses”, have been properly accounted for.
But in a speech in London on Thursday, Badenoch said Burnham needed to be clearer about where his savings would come from and called on him to rule out tax rises at the autumn Budget.
She also criticised him for “floating” possible future policies such as providing social care free at the point of use, a huge expansion in council house building, and increasing the tax-free personal allowance.
“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.
