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Revenge is a dish best served cold, so the saying goes.
But Sir Keir Starmer’s top ally Darren Jones launched a withering attack on Andy Burnham in the full heat of a change of Government.
His intervention immediately raised potentially damaging questions for Mr Burnham before he had even chaired his first Cabinet meeting after becoming Prime Minister on Monday.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced plans to cut VAT from energy bills from OctoberPA WireMr Burnham hit the ground running on his first full day in No10 by axing VAT off household electricity from October, which will lop on average £45-a-year off people’s bills.
These savings will at least be partly eaten up as energy prices rise due to Donald Trump’s Iran war and other factors.
It was still a good start for Mr Burnham.
The cut to bills was due to be funded, according to the Government, by savings from the scrapping of ID scheme plans.
But Mr Jones then revealed that there actually was no money yet to fund the £850 million reduction to bills.
Darren Jones has suggested he would like to hear reassurances from Mr Burnham on his economic plansPA WireIn a post on X, the former Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister said: “Good news that VAT will be cut on electricity bills.
“It’s a simple way for families to save a few quid, and to mechanically help to keep inflation that little bit lower.
“But the DigitalID program was unfunded.
“The Government will have to set out how it will pay for its new policies at the Budget.”
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds argued that the money was there because the “pressure” of finding cash had been shifted from digital ID to the VAT cut on electricity bills.
He said the £1.8 billion for digital ID had been “scored” by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
But when you're explaining, especially when citing figures from the OBR scoresheet, you are often losing.
Mr Jones’ startling missile, which certainly looks like a moment of “revenge” after the purge of Starmer allies by Mr Burnham, is damaging to the new Government on at least three fronts.
Conservative Party leader Kemi BadenochPAFirst, it exposes the former Mayor of Greater Manchester Mayor to the perennial accusation that Labour can’t be trusted with the nation’s money.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch was quick to seize on this.
“It’s only one day into Burnham’s Government and already the explanations are falling apart,” she messaged.
“You can’t use the funding from an unfunded programme to pay for cheaper bills.”
Next, it significantly undermined Mr Burnham’s call for more collegiate politics.
Why should the Conservatives, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, Zack Polanski’s Green Party and the Liberal Democrats pull their punches and ditch the confrontational tradition of British politics when senior Labour MPs are knocking chunks out of each other in full public glare.
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Third, and possibly most importantly, it immediately raised questions over whether Mr Burnham has been over-promising on what he can achieve in Government.
He has vowed to unleash "the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years".
He says he will deliver the “biggest devolution of power in modern times”, to undo what he sees as the damage of “four decades of neoliberalism,” and to unleash the largest council homes building programme in the post-war period.
Andy Burnham on his return to Parliament as Makerfield MPGettyMr Burnham has the vast majority of Labour MPs behind him, with many people across Britain desperate for him to succeed and lift living standards.
But an unfunded announcement sparking internal party infighting has all the hallmarks of the old politics.