Andy Burnham finally breaks silence on his tax plans as ‘summer of chaos’ looms ? | Politics | News

Kemi Badneoch has criticized Andy Burnham for ignoring the possibility of a wealth tax on Britons.

The new Prime Minister suggested that the Government “might have to ask for a little bit more” at some point.

The future prime minister did not commit to a change but said the UK needed “a greater sense of fairness” when asked whether he would consider introducing a “wealth tax” on the “super-rich” to tackle inequality in the UK.

The Conservative leader said: “Andy Burnham isn’t even Prime Minister yet but he’s already talking about increasing your taxes again. We’re heading for another summer of chaos with Labor obsessing over who they can tax to get more benefits. It doesn’t matter who’s in charge, Labor is the problem.”

Mr Burnham has revealed little of his plans for the country so far, even though he is only days away from taking office.

Mr Burnham told former footballer Gary Lineker in an interview with Goalhanger that he would “obviously take my time to look at the state of affairs properly, particularly the financial situation”.

But he added: “I just mentioned, Gary, about bringing people together. You know, I don’t want to go in and create new divisions, if you will, and pit people against each other.”

“I’m not going to ignore things right now. I believe we need more of a sense of justice and we need people to feel like things are being done the right way and fairly. But at the same time, I don’t want to be perceived as someone who, you know, comes in with grudges and agendas and, you know, will immediately find or demonize a group or create a new way to divide people.”

He added: “So, you know, it’s going to be tough decisions that have to be made in a timely manner. I’m not going to shy away from that. You know, we’re going to have to work hard to make sure we can pay our way.”

“And at some point that may have to take a little bit more. But you know, those decisions are not for now. They’re for another day.”

It has been reported that the current Minister of Internal Affairs, Shabana Mahmood, may become Chancellor in the new administration.

At the same time, Energy Minister Ed Miliband, who is claimed to take on a senior role in the Undersecretariat of the Treasury, is on his way to becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Reform Shadow Chancellor Robert Jenrick said: “Burnham has finally broken his two-week silence and admitted he will raise people’s taxes. But he won’t say which ones are taxes. He must stop hiding and ignore the ten taxes (£3,450 for each family) he previously supported but had no authority for. Reform UK will fight him at every turn.”

Mr Burnham told the former Match of the Day presenter he would be “very clear” on areas of disagreement with the US President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump last month made his first public reaction to Mr Burnham’s decision to succeed Sir Keir, with the US President branding him an “overly liberal” politician and a “town mayor”.

Mr. Burnham stated that he would be willing to disagree with Mr. Trump but would “try to meet him where he is” with “respect for the office.”