Conservative response to Andy Burnham’s Conference speech

Kemi Badenoch MP, Leader of the Conservative Party, said:

Andy Burnham delivered a speech for the Labour Party, not the country.

Burnham wants to take Britain back to the 1970s, a time of more government control, more trade union control and no economic growth. There is a reason our country took a different course after that decade.

"Nothing Burnham announced today will do anything to fix Britain's long-term problems. He had no plan to fix our stagnant economy. No plan to fund defence. No plan to sort out the spiralling welfare bill beyond more government schemes.

His proposal to change the triple lock is already falling apart under scrutiny, and it won't generate enough savings to fund a nationalised care system for another two decades, which means more tax rises are inevitable.

Andy Burnham's big vision for Britain is just an ode to the past. He might be looking backwards. I won't.

Britain does not need to recreate the politics of the 1970s. It needs a government prepared to take the difficult decisions, back those who work and build businesses, and look confidently to the future.