Badenoch warns Burnham 'the honeymoon is over' as PM faces dispatch box debut and prisoner release fury
Lord O'Neill of Gatley has warned Andy Burnham that any capital gains tax rise would be "stupid" and risk pushing entrepreneurs out of Britain.Kemi Badenoch is set to face Andy Burnham at the dispatch box for the first time in 16 years when MPs return from summer recess on Tuesday.
Kemi Badenoch is set to tell Burnham to stop "tinkering around the edges" as he braces for what is expected to be the most gruelling week of his premiership, returning to Parliament on Tuesday for his first Dispatch Box appearance in 16 years. A 3.6% above-inflation pay deal being struck with Avanti West Coast and Aslef — covering drivers on the London-Manchester route Burnham personally uses — is expected to draw accusations that Labour has "totally capitulated to their union paymasters." Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden is set to say taxpayers will be asked to "stump up millions simply to save Burnham's blushes." Wednesday will bring his debut at PMQs, with No 10 indicating it will be used as a "learning exercise."
Burnham is also set to face a prisoner early-release announcement expected to spark fury among his own female backbenchers.
A decision on the Rosebank oil and gas field looks likely to be delayed, with one pro-drilling Labour MP poised to accuse Burnham of having "bottled it" under Ed Miliband's influence.
Avanti drivers, who are set to earn opening salaries of around £70,000, will also be in line to receive time-and-a-half on Sundays, plus as much as £720 for taking on a fifth working day.
