KEIR Starmer loyalists have already begun sniping at Andy Burnham after he ruthlessly purged them from the Cabinet.
Darren Jones, the former chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, took a shot at the new prime minister by claiming that his plan to cut VAT on energy bills was unfunded.
The former minister, a close ally of Starmer, admitted that his flagship plans for digital ID were unfunded.
John Healey, the new Chancellor, has said that the energy bill savings scheme would be funded by axing the controversial ID cards plan.
In response to a social media post from Healey, Jones said: “Good news that VAT will be cut on electricity bills. It’s a simple way for families to save a few quid, and to mechanically help to keep inflation that little bit lower.
“But the Digital ID program was unfunded. The government will have to set out how it will pay for its new policies at the budget.”
The admission from Jones will raise eyebrows given that it was one of his signature projects during his spell in Government.
Burnham purged Starmer loyalists from the Cabinet when he took over as Prime Minister on Monday. He sacked David Lammy, Rachel Reeves and Steve Reed from the Government but has at the same time kept many familiar faces around the Cabinet table.
Elsewhere, in first phone call with John Swinney, Burnham ruled out granting a second independence referendum.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister added he was focused on practical measures, not constitutional changes like further referendums, to give families more breathing room by helping them with the cost of living, which he had done today by helping millions of households with their energy bills.”
Later, a UK Government source told the PA news agency that the Prime Minister “was quite firm they would have to agree to disagree” on independence during the call.
They added: “It’s not something he’s focused on and it’s not a conversation that he’s interested in taking forward.”
This comes despite Burnham’s pledges on devolution, including in his debut speech as Prime Minister on Monday where he claimed he would “take the power” out of Westminster and “carry it into every postcode in the land”, forming a key plank of his leadership pitch.
