Andy Burnham is going to be a big disappointment says Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick

Andy Burnham “is going to prove to be a big disappointment” because he will not instigate the radical changes that people want to see from the government, according to Reform UK’s Treasury Spokesman Robert Jenrick.

He told GB News: “I’m all for spreading prosperity and opportunity across the country, I’m from the Midlands. I want to see every person in this country have lower energy bills, better prospects, good jobs, benefit from a stronger country. But I don’t see any of that in what’s being announced today. This sounds like it is just a load of waffle.

“Andy Burnham hasn’t even walked into Number 10, and he’s already playing for time. He’s saying it’s going to take him 10 years to turn this country around. Well, people can’t wait 10 years. People want to see radical change now. That is what people are crying out for.

“They’ve already seen government after government fail to deliver this kind of change, and is Andy Burnham going to secure our borders and stop the boats? No. Is he going to face down his backbenchers and tackle welfare, so that he can get taxes down? No. In fact, quite the opposite. His chief lieutenant, Louise Haigh, is saying that taxes are going to go up on savers and anyone who makes capital gains.

“Is he going to stop bedsits being taken over on your own street and filled with illegal migrants? No, of course he isn’t. Is he going to take on Ed Miliband and ensure that we have lower energy prices, so that we can truly re-industrialise the North and the Midlands? No. In fact, Ed Miliband is being talked about as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

“I’m afraid he is not proposing any change at all, and the British public are going to very quickly see through exactly what Andy Burnham means.”

He added: “I am confident that the British public will see through Andy Burnham very quickly indeed. Look at today, he isn’t even taking any questions from the media, as you just reported. So, how is this man supposed to be our Prime Minister when he hasn’t been elected in a general election, he didn’t stand on the Labour Party’s manifesto. He has no mandate.

“There’s not been any vote of Labour MPs or members, and he isn’t even prepared to take a single question from the media at supposedly his big economic speech. I think people are going to find that Andy Burnham talks a good talk, but there’s no substance behind it at all, and this is at a moment where the British public want to see radical change being delivered quickly to stop the boats, to bring down energy prices, to bring back good jobs, to get people’s livelihoods back up again after a period of stagnation. It’s going to be a big, big disappointment.”

On Burnham’s pledge to re-industrialise the country, Jenrick said: “Andy Burnham, throughout his career, has proven to be one of those politicians that talks a big game but doesn’t deliver. When he was last here in Westminster, he was good at PR, but he was a bad minister.

“As mayor of Manchester, he’s been a popular figure, but he’s just been doling out cash that central government have been giving him. He’s never had to take difficult decisions. As Prime Minister, he’s going to have to take on the big structural problems facing the British economy.”