From POLITICO · · 1m 40s
Badenoch ally attacks Burnham's economic message
Helen Whately, a senior Conservative, brands the Prime Minister's growth strategy as economically damaging.
In brief
Helen Whately, a senior Conservative, brands the Prime Minister's growth strategy as economically damaging. Helen Whately, shadow work and pensions secretary, attacked Prime Minister Andy Burnham's economic approach as fundamentally flawed, signalling a more combative Conservative strategy. Originally reported by…
Whately attacks Burnham's speech
Helen Whately, shadow work and pensions secretary, has branded Prime Minister Andy Burnham's recent conference speech as absolutely mad, signalling a more combative Conservative approach.
“I see Andy Burnham saying, look, if we just hope hard enough, everything will be fine”
The economic divide
Whately accused Burnham of wanting to achieve growth by taxing more, spending more, increasing public ownership and regulation. She called this approach absolutely mad and economically damaging.
“To me, as a Conservative, that is absolutely mad. That is how you make our economy worse”
The triple lock dispute
Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith committed to the triple lock pension guarantee for this parliament only. Whately insisted Kemi Badenoch is absolutely clear the triple lock is Conservative policy.
“Kemi is absolutely dead clear about it. The triple lock is Conservative policy.”
Welfare and work focus
Whately said the answer to the country's problems is getting people working, not targeting pensioners. She highlighted seven million people of working age on out-of-work benefits as a priority.
“The answer is to get people working, and the core to my brief is to make savings from the welfare bill”
Free childcare for high earners
Whately defended the Conservative pledge to offer free childcare to parents earning over one hundred thousand pounds. She rejected comparisons to countries like Hungary that pay people to have children.
“Those are things are incredibly expensive. We're not going down that route.”
Tightening sickness benefit access
Whately vowed to clamp down on working-age benefit access, saying current sickness benefit assessments are flawed. Many are done over the phone or with forms only, without in-person checks.
“A huge amount of assessments are done over the phone, just with forms, people not being seen in person”
Jenrick's defection to Reform
When pressed on Robert Jenrick, the former shadow justice secretary who defected to Nigel Farage's Reform UK, Whately said she no longer considers him a friend because of how he behaved and deceived people.
“I considered Rob a friend, and now he's not a friend in my life because of the way he behaved”
At a glance
Helen Whately, shadow work and pensions secretary, attacked Prime Minister Andy Burnham's economic approach as fundamentally flawed, signalling a more combative Conservative strategy.
