Sacked minister questions funding for Burnham’s first major policy

• New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced plans to remove VAT from household electricity bills, effective from 1 October.
• Darren Jones, a former Cabinet minister, criticised Mr Burnham's proposal, saying it is “unfunded”.
• Chancellor John Healey said that the VAT cut would be financed by cancelling the Digital ID programme.
• Mr Jones argued that the Digital ID programme was already unfunded and said that the government will “have to set out how it will pay for its new policies”.
• The announcement coincided with Mr Burnham finalising his cabinet appointments, including Angela Rayner as housing secretary and Wes Streeting as defence secretary.

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Andy Burnham latest: Sacked minister attacks PM’s ‘unfunded’ electricity bill VAT cut