Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said that if Andy Burnham is a “prime minister-in-waiting”, he must answer questions from MPs before they leave Parliament for the summer. Speaking at a rally in central London, Badenoch insisted that “silly season is not for the people running the country”, criticising Burnham for not addressing defence and major global issues publicly.
Badenoch questions Burnham's defence record
Badenoch claimed that Burnham had issued no response to the recent close encounter between a Russian reconnaissance plane and the UK’s carrier strike group in the Arctic. “The RAF intercepted a Russian warplane. It was dropping sonar devices right next to a British aircraft carrier. What did Andy Burnham say? Nothing,” she said.
She challenged Burnham to delay Parliament’s recess by a “day or two” so MPs can ask him about his agenda for government. “I do think that he’s got some serious questions to answer. He should come to Parliament and answer those questions if he really is the prime minister-in-waiting; he needs to start acting like it,” Badenoch added.
Starmer 'powerless' and Burnham expected to become PM
Badenoch said Sir Keir Starmer was now “powerless” as he travelled to his final international engagement at the Nato summit in Turkey. She then questioned the likely successor’s record on defence. Andy Burnham is widely expected to become prime minister this month.
During the rally, Badenoch also targeted other political figures: “Burnham wants a summer holiday, (Nigel) Farage is in hiding, Starmer is retiring.” She added: “But all of this is happening right at the time when difficult decisions need to be made. Silly season is not for the people running the country. Britain needs some grown-ups in the room, but they don’t appear to be any outside the Conservative Party.”
Funding defence through welfare cuts
After the rally, Badenoch was asked how the Conservatives would fund defence spending. She said the party would largely seek to make up shortfalls through welfare cuts, but acknowledged other areas of spending would also need to be reprioritised. When asked whether tax rises would be completely off the table to fund defence, she said: “If we tax so much that the businesses disappear, then we’re not going to have the money for defence.”
