Badenoch warns Burnham against new taxes ahead of budget

Kemi Badenoch has warned Prime Minister Andy Burnham against introducing new taxes as the government prepares for the upcoming budget. Her intervention comes as Burnham embarks on a listening tour across the country, which he says is intended to gather public opinion before setting out his fiscal plans. In a clip aired on GB News, Burnham acknowledged that some of his proposals would require "difficult decisions" and said he would be honest with people about those choices, adding that he hoped to proceed "with people's consent."

Badenoch's warning was framed around the impact of further tax rises on ordinary households. Speaking on GB News, the host suggested that Badenoch had told Burnham that "more taxes will mean more hardship for the British people." The programme also featured discussion of Burnham's listening tour, with panellists questioning whether it would be a genuinely open exercise or a carefully curated series of events designed to generate support for more spending. One panellist said it was "quite a carefully curated listening tour" and expressed scepticism that Burnham would hear calls for cutting the welfare bill.

Burnham's recent rise in approval ratings was noted, with one panellist saying his rating had "jumped about 10 points" to around 13 points. However, the same speaker warned that as policies start to roll out, people would realise that many proposals amount to new taxes in disguise, such as levies or licensing thresholds. The conversation also touched on a potential 10 per cent inheritance tax levy on all estates to fund social care, which one panellist defended as a "very healthy new tax" because of the current unfairness for families affected by serious illnesses like Alzheimer's. Another panellist argued that the levy would need to be set at 26 to 30 per cent to raise the necessary funds, and that many of Burnham's plans were not properly costed.

The triple lock on pensions also came under scrutiny, with a claim that it has added 70 billion pounds a year compared with 2019-20. A panellist described this as "a completely unsustainable situation," noting that a third of retirees are worth a million pounds. The broader debate highlighted the political tension between the opposition's warnings about tax rises and the government's stated need for additional revenue to address social care and other pressures. As Burnham continues his listening tour, the question of how to balance public services with fiscal restraint remains unresolved.