Andy Burnham warned of 'Budget crash out' after dodging PMQs grilling: 'Cruising on vibes!'

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The Prime Minister avoided questioning from Kemi Badenoch on potential tax hikes for Britons

Andy Burnham has been warned of a "Budget crash out" after "cruising on vibes" during his first few weeks as Prime Minister.

Speaking to GB News, Shadow Women and Equalities Minister Joy Morrisey criticised him for dodging Kemi Badenoch's grilling of Labour's £14billion black hole.

During his first Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs Badenoch warned Mr Burnham he "needs to pay for all his new promises" either with "higher taxes, more borrowing or spending cuts".

She asked the Prime Minister: "So will he be honest and tell us is, he preparing to raise taxes again, yes or no?"

Mr Burnham replied: "I’m not going to do what any Prime Minister has done and write the Budget here. That would be the matter for my Right Honourable friend.

"But can I also say to her and indeed to the whole of her new shadow cabinet, the majority of whom were part of a Government that lasted for 49 days, a short-lived Government that crashed confidence in the economy and hammered people’s mortgages."

He then argued: "She took a decision at the weekend, she removed a shadow chancellor who said that the Truss mini-budget was a mistake and she replaced that shadow chancellor with one that helped write the Truss mini-budget.

"And dare I remind the House that the leader of the Opposition is on record as saying that Liz Truss is 100 per cent right?"

Reacting to Mr Burnham's first PMQs at the despatch box, Ms Morrisey told GB News: "He's had the whole summer to practice, to kind of work on his vibes.

"I think he can cruise on his vibes until the Budget, and then I think we're going to see a crash out."

Ms Morrisey argued that the Government's need to increase borrowing capacity is "going to really hurt" Mr Burnham's Government.

She said: "Right now we have bond yields at an all-time high, I think it's a 15-year high, so that's going to increase the borrowing capacity and how much budget he's going to have. It's going to really hurt him.

"He can't say no to any of his backbench MPs, and all the backbench MPs, as Pat McFadden has said, are just asking him how can they tax everybody to pay for more welfare benefits?

"And he hasn't said no to any spending commitments, so how is he going to pay for everything?"

Defending the Prime Minister, Labour MP Melanie Onn told GB News that Mr Burnham has shown "very clear signals" that he intends to improve the cost of living crisis.

She said: "Well, I think it's right to really consider these things in the round, but I do think that there have been very clear signals from Andy Burnham that the intention is to reduce the cost of living and also try and support businesses as well.

"Because those are the things that he's heard while he's been out and about all around the country over the course of the summer."

Ms Onn argued that the "removal of some initiatives" put in place by ex-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will mean "money is found" to fund Mr Burnham's pledges.

She concluded: "I think that the removal of some of the initiatives that were in place from the previous Prime Minister's administration, the fact that those are falling by the wayside, indicates that there will be money found to support some of these new initiatives.

"And that money will try and make things... provide a little bit of breathing space for the British public."