Burnham Blames Brexit, Thatcher in First Commons Speech

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch attacked him for going 43 days without facing scrutiny from MPs and for relitigating the Thatcher era. "The year is 2026. Yet the prime minister said in his statement that everything has gone wrong since the 1980s, still complaining about Margaret Thatcher," she said. "I may not look it, but I'm 46 years old. He is talking about a woman who became prime minister before I was born. He is living in the past, and he wants to take us back to the 1970s."

The Sun reported Burnham was accused of being "stuck in the past" for using his debut to go after Thatcher and Brexit. In the Daily Mail, columnist Quentin Letts mocked the speech as impenetrable, writing that MPs "squinted in puzzlement."

Pro-EU campaigners took the opposite view. Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, said it was "hugely welcome to hear a prime minister stand at the despatch box and say loudly and clearly that Brexit harmed Britain," and urged him to "keep all options on the table."

The Independent reported Burnham ducked Badenoch's questions on defence spending, taxes and cutting the welfare bill, and hinted electoral reform could be on the table after Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called for a national commission on changing British politics.

Why Americans Should Care

Defence spending was the sharpest exchange. Burnham's chancellor, John Healey, quit as defence secretary under Starmer while calling for Britain to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 — a NATO-facing commitment Washington has pushed allies to meet. Since moving to the Treasury, the BBC reports, Healey has not attached a date to that target and says one will come at the next spending review, expected in spring 2027.

Burnham signalled where he stands by noting that Healey's arguments on defence spending in his old job were a key reason he put him in charge of the money.