As new prime minister briefs cabinet on ‘cost of living government’, critics ask where money will come from

Andy Burnham is under mounting pressure to explain how he will pay for his policy pledges as he implored his new cabinet to examine “all possible ways” to tackle the cost of living crisis.

On his first full day in power, the prime minister faced questions about how he would fund the removal of VAT from electricity bills and also an expected uplift in defence spending – an issue that led his new chancellor, John Healey, to resign as Keir Starmer’s defence secretary last month.