Burnham Tears Into Kemi Badenoch With Timely Liz Truss Reminder

Andy Burnham hit back at Kemi Badenoch’s criticism over his delayed appearance in front of fellow MPs with a quick reminder of Liz Truss.

The prime minister succeeded Keir Starmer on July 20, just days after Westminster’s scheduled summer recess began.

He therefore did not have to answer any direct questions from his opponents in the House of Commons for the first six weeks for his premiership.

So the Conservatives’ leader Badenoch used her first opportunity on Tuesday to remind MPs how Burnham enjoyed the summer without much scrutiny.

Burnham replied: “The Honorable Lady said the fact that I had been in my position for 43 days.

“Can I turn that round and say that means in six days, this government will have outlived the Truss government? And will be here for a lot, lot longer.”

Truss was forced out of office in October 2022, after just 49 days in Downing Street.

Her own MPs kicked her out following the economic turmoil caused by her disastrous mini-Budget, which contained £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts, sending interest rates and inflation up while the value of the pound went into decline.

Truss’s name is now regularly used as a stick to beat the Conservatives by its opponents.

Burnham also used his time at the despatch box to remind the Leader of the Opposition just how many of her own front bench had been tightly tied to the Truss government.

“I noticed yesterday she appointed a new shadow cabinet,” the prime minister said. “The new shadow chancellor, I welcome him to his position too – I believe the author of the mini-Budget?”

This jibe sparked uproar from across the House, as Burnham added: “I think at least half of the shadow cabinet supported the Liz Truss government.”

Badenoch removed Mel Stride and promoted Andrew Griffith to the top job over the bank holiday.

Griffith robustly defended the mini-Budget during the dying days of Truss’s premiership when he was financial secretary to the Treasury.

He said: “We think they’re the right plans because those plans make our economy competitive.

“What we politicians are responsible for is making the economic decisions that will drive continued growth.”

Truss also welcomed news of Griffith’s promotion on Monday, writing on X: “Congratulations to Andrew Griffith on becoming Shadow Chancellor.

“The economic establishment of the last three decades has failed Britain. They must be taken on.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.