It’s questionable whether Osborne has a mandate for the scale of cuts planned, says Burnham

Andy Burnham has said that it’s “questionable” whether George Osborne has a mandate for the scale of cuts the Tories have planned.

Burnham, who is a Labour leadership contender and shadow health secretary, rejected Osborne’s call for Labour to support the government’s plans to implement £12bn of welfare cuts.

The MP for Leigh said Osborne’s refusal to explain where the cuts would fall before the election was  “pretty disgraceful” and was “frightening people”.

He told Sky News:

“If this chancellor thinks it is acceptable to take benefits off disabled people who can’t replace that income, or if he is coming after the tax credits of people on low incomes in work, then he is going to have a fight on his hands”

“It is questionable whether he has a mandate for cuts on this scale because he didn’t spell out before the election where these cuts were going to fall. That is wrong.”

This comes after Osborne and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said they are going ahead with the £12bn in cuts and urged the Labour leadership candidates to “engage constructively” with them.

Labour have not outlined their stance on the welfare cuts; the four leadership contenders have yet to clearly state their thoughts on the subject.

However, Burnham has in the past that he might support cuts somewhere in the realm of £0-12bn. While, Yvette Cooper has explained that she believes in“strong rules on contribution.”

Liz Kendall said that she is waiting to see what shape the Conservatives’ cuts will take before she passes judgement on them.  Left wing candidate, Jeremy Corbyn, is the only candidate to say he is opposed to the cuts and he was the only of the four to attend an anti-austerity demonstration in London yesterday.