Kemi Badenoch has warned Andy Burnham that ‘the honeymoon is over’ as the Prime Minister braces for his toughest week yet.
With MPs set to return to the Commons after their summer recess, Mr Burnham faces a nightmare to-do list that could spark a Labour civil war.
The Prime Minister will finally appear at the Dispatch Box on Tuesday, the first time he will lock horns with Ms Badenoch, immediately followed by an announcement on the early release of yet more prisoners, which threatens fury among his female backbenchers.
It’s expected there will also be announcements this week about sanctions on Israeli settlements, and on drilling in the North Sea.
It was reported yesterday that a decision on the Rosebank oil and gas field is set to be deferred, sparking accusations from one pro-drilling Labour MP that Mr Burnham had ‘bottled’ it and was proof that Ed Miliband is ‘reigning supreme’.
This week Mr Burnham will also welcome Emmanuel Macron to London, as he plays diplomatic host for the first time.
Ahead of Mr Burnham finally offering himself up for long-awaited scrutiny from MPs, Ms Badenoch warned: ‘The honeymoon is over’.
She told the Mail on Sunday: ‘Andy Burnham needs to stop tinkering around the edges and start doing the job he put himself forward for.
Kemi Badenoch has warned Andy Burnham that ‘the honeymoon’s over’ ahead of a huge first week of MPs returning to the Commons
One Labour MP instructed Mr Burnham to ‘leave the guitar’ and focus on the real job at hand
Tuesday will see Mr Burnham standing at the dispatch box for the first time in 16 years
‘If he won’t make the tough decisions to bring down the welfare bill, strengthen defence and resist the urge to splurge on the taxpayer’s credit card, then he is simply the same old Labour leader of the same old Labour Party.
‘I look forward to pinning him down this week and getting answers to the questions the British people are actually asking – not more piecemeal fixes from a Prime Minister who still seems to think he’s running a mayoralty.’
Last night Downing Street claimed that Mr Burnham would use his Parliamentary debut as Prime Minister as the ‘moment we begin to bring back hope’.
A spokesman said that following his summer tour of Britain, meeting families, shop owners and publicans, ‘he will say that he will continue to work to restore hope as he confronts the issues that have been ignored for too long’.
‘The Prime Minister does not accept that the Government’s role is to stand by and watch on as every bill goes up and up, squeezing the joy out of life.
‘He will promise the country that wherever we can make life more affordable, we will.
‘We can make this the moment when Britain starts believing again, and we bring back hope.’
The promise of ‘hope’ sparked scepticism from backbenchers, with one weary Labour MP telling this paper: ‘I’ve already submitted my postcode for the growth we’ve been promised’.
Mr Burnham’s honeymoon and swathe of PR-focussed announcements have earned him a reprieve from furious loyalists of Keir Starmer, however.
The mass sacking of the former premier’s allies sparked fury in July, with the sacked warning they would plot an ‘autumn of revenge’ for when MPs returned to Westminster.
These included plans to force Mr Burnham to stick to Keir Starmer’s manifesto tax pledge, and eyeing up a new parliamentary caucus to lobby for ‘economic competence’.
Last night one leading rebel told the MoS they plan to ‘space my interventions’ to ‘give them some breathing space’, parodying Mr Burnham’s own cost of living catchphrase.
They added: ‘Nothing explosive from me pre-conference – although I can’t speak for others’.
Another prominent critic of Mr Burnham’s warned that the Prime Minister would be returning to a ‘split’ Parliamentary Labour Party, with ‘lots of wounded folk’ following Sir Keir’s departure from Downing Street.
They added that Labour MPs will insist on substance from the new Prime Minister following a summer of feel-good announcements, warning: ‘I want to feel inspired and confident he’ll make the right decisions.
Referencing his recent visit to Ukraine, they added: ‘Leave the guitar… drop all that nonsense and do the right thing.’
While Nigel Farage is set to return to Parliament this week, one face will be notably absent from proceedings.
A friend of Keir Starmer’s said he will not be loitering on the green benches making trouble for his successor.
Signs that Mr Burnham does not lead a united party were underlined this week with the party’s National Executive Committee election results.
The Starmerite-backing faction called ‘Labour to Win’ won a clean sweep in the contests, despite predictions that their dominance on the ruling panel would wane.
A source warned: ‘Burnham’s never been to the membership… if you were backing the NEC to be loyal behind Andy, this isn’t the result you’d want to see.
They added the contest’s outcome will make Mr Burnham ‘think about how he approaches the party – we’re not on a journey to become a left-wing [party] anytime soon.’
Labour sources suggested this week that Mr Burnham’s biggest challenge will be avoiding any trip-ups before the Budget, with speculation ramping up this week about what tax rises may be in store.
Friends of the Prime Minister hope that Labour’s unity will hold for the time being, given MPs will once again depart the Commons for their conference recess on September 15.
But questions still swirl around the authority of the new Chancellor John Healey.
Mr Healey’s interview on Friday, in which he claimed he represented ‘continuity’ with the previous government, and refused to put a date on when he would increase defence spending to 3% of GDP, was the biggest hint yet of the difficult reality facing Mr Burnham over the coming months.
Robert Jenrick, Reform’s economics spokesman, said the intervention was proof that ‘the coronation of Andy Burnham as Prime Minister offers us nothing more than Starmerism with a northern accent’.
One Labour insider forecast that Mr Burnham’s successive U-turns and flip-flops will continue over the coming weeks.
Since entering No. 10, Mr Burnham has already rowed back on increasing the income tax personal allowance, rent controls, renationalising Thames Water, capping donations to political parties, and the early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers.
The source warned: ‘In the next couple of weeks you’ll see further rowing back ahead of the Budget, and Kemi will be allowed to land some blows on [Burnham].’
