Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called on Andy Burnham to outline his plans for the country in an early October Budget.
On the VAT cut on energy bills, he told GB News: “It’s not the best way to help people with their energy bills, and it doesn’t go far enough. But I’m not going to be churlish. At least he’s doing something because the cost of living crisis is huge for people.
“We’ll look at the details, and if he wants to have a new politics and reach out cross party, we have our own proposal which is more generous. It’s called the essential energy guarantee, and would give households £100 off their bills. But the key thing is, it’s not just a short term measure; it’s a long term measure, and that’s what I’d like to see a little bit more of from the new government.
“That’s why we’re calling for a Budget as soon as possible in early October. He needs to start that process now, so we can have a full budget for the country and really get to grips with the cost of living crisis that’s hitting so many millions of people.”
Asked if there should be a general election, he said: “I don’t think we need an election now. We need to get on and do stuff.
“Labour was elected two years ago for change. I’m afraid they failed miserably on that. They’ve repeated a lot of the mistakes the Conservatives made before them, but I think the country is impatient for change.”
He added: “I think people just want someone to get on with the job, right? So when I talk to people, they say, ‘Look, please, can we have some policies to deal with the cost of living crisis?’ Can we sort out our NHS with the sort of care package that we’ve talked about? They just want someone to get on with that.
“I don’t think a general election is the answer to our current emergencies. Do we want a general election in due course? Of course we do. I’m looking forward to the next election when it comes. We’ll put forward our ideas for the economy, for our defence, for our environment, for our health service.
“I’m increasingly confident that we will gain a lot of support for those. But the prime minister’s just got into number 10. He needs to get on and fix the problems. I think people are really impatient for change, and we will be holding them to account to make sure that change comes fast.”