Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Prime Minister Andy Burnham of 'still thinking like the mayor of Manchester,' saying his ambitions for Britain are 'too small.' This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
In a speech in central London, Badenoch said Burnham's policies such as cheaper bus fares and removing VAT from electricity bills showed a lack of vision: 'Andy Burnham may be a nice guy, may dance well enough, but Britain does not need a prime minister with small answers to big problems – it needs a government that looks forwards, not backwards.'
She added: 'He is not the mayor of Manchester. These are mayor of Manchester ideas. Where is our prime minister?'
The speech and Q&A, held on a rooftop overlooking the Thames, is the latest in a series of events where Badenoch has taken questions from every journalist present, mimicking Nigel Farage's style from last summer.
Badenoch has not yet managed to generate as much attention, but the party's aim is to get her as visible as possible and talking about the economy, which they see as potentially good ground for the party.
On specific policies, Badenoch ruled out the Tories supporting a plan to finance social care that involved using even a fraction of people's estates. She said: 'My principle is that people who've worked hard and saved their money shouldn't have to pay for social care, while those people who chose not to save then get it paid for by the state. That is unfair.'
Asked about a report that Grant Shapps had been blocked from seeking a new Tory seat, Badenoch refused to get into specific cases but did not dismiss the idea. She said: 'What I will say is that we're going to be announcing candidates shortly, and you will see that this is a very different party from the one that was removed from government in 2024. This is a new and different Conservative party.'
Badenoch also expressed concern about a lack of co-operation with Israel. She said: 'I think that yet again this is a government and a prime minister and a defence secretary and even a foreign secretary that have the wrong priorities.' She added: 'This excessive focus on what's going on in Israel and Palestine is because that's what their backbenchers are concerned about.'
Badenoch called Andy Burnham's new cabinet 'terrifying' for its lack of private sector experience. She told reporters: 'They are all equally terrifying, and they are terrifying because I think apart from one or two people, everyone in Andy Burnham's cabinet has come from a charity, third sector, trade union, or worked for a Labour MP background. These are not the people that are going to turn the country around. You need a much broader spectrum of people.'
Badenoch also said new energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh was 'possibly worse' than her predecessor Ed Miliband, because 'she wants net zero by 2030.' She added: 'These plans are not possible; they are just slogans.'
Badenoch called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to get 'serious' about cross-party work.