保守党领袖Kemi Badenoch敦促首相Andy Burnham排除额外增税的可能性，并警告称，新政府早期政策承诺可能进一步加重企业和家庭负担。

Badenoch在俯瞰伦敦金融城的地点发表讲话时表示，Burnham看起来“like a nice guy”，并且有“sense of humour”，但她尖锐批评了首相最初密集发布的一系列政策，称其为一连串规模较小、但缺乏资金来源的承诺。

Badenoch认为，Burnham不应通过进一步向富裕群体征税来为其新承诺提供资金。她指出，Rachel Reeves已额外筹集约£65bn年度收入——这一数字主要源自October 2024 Budget中提高雇主国民保险缴款以及其他措施，而这些措施持续受到包括Confederation of British Industry和Federation of Small Businesses在内的商业团体批评。她敦促首相“rule out tax rises to pay for his spending spree.”

“If Andy Burnham raises taxes again, he will pretend he is punishing 'the rich.' The truth is he will punish the engineer whose factory is not built, the apprentice whose job never exists, the family whose bills rise again,”她说。

“This is what Labour never understands. Businesses are not cash machines for politicians.”

Badenoch还谈到推高日常开支的生活成本压力。她说：“Bus fares are expensive because fuel is expensive. Energy is expensive. Employment is expensive. Regulation is expensive. Government has made nearly everything more costly, and Andy Burnham's answer is to cap one price and send the bill somewhere else,”

“But somewhere else is always someone else. A taxpayer. A business. A family. Someone will pay. And they will pay in higher taxes.”

工党发言人反驳了Badenoch的言论，称“Tory politics”多年来“let people down for years is a recipe for disaster and will only hold Britain back.” 该发言人将Burnham早期政策举措——包括限制公交票价、取消能源账单VAT，以及通过提高电子烟商店税率来抵消酒吧商业税率下调——描述为“just the start.”

威斯敏斯特的新格局

Burnham出任首相重塑了议会格局，迫使Badenoch重新调整其反对党策略。新政府已释放出不同于Sir Keir Starmer首相任内做法的信号，而税收和移民仍是分化威斯敏斯特两大主要政党的焦点议题。

Burnham承诺结束“point-scoring”，并与反对党合作，这可能为跨党派关系带来新的动态。未来数月将检验这一承诺能否经受住围绕预算案及任何进一步增收措施的首轮重大立法交锋。

Badenoch在民调方面也面临挑战。最新YouGov调查结果显示，Burnham的净支持率为三点，而Badenoch为负十一点。Burnham的支持水平比Starmer在2024年大选后最初的支持率高六点，也显著高于Boris Johnson，后者上任时为负十八点。