Jacob Rees-Mogg Accuses Andy Burnham of Rerunning Divisive Brexit Arguments to Hide 200 Billion Spending Black Hole

Jacob Rees-Mogg has accused Andy Burnham of tearing up his promise to focus on domestic issues and rerunning divisive arguments about rejoining the European Union to cover up a massive spending spree.

Speaking on GB News, Sir Jacob said you know when politicians are in trouble when they say “I don’t recognise the figure”.

Rees-Mogg said: “The wonderful genius Christopher Hope got this out of Andy Burnham. He said all the spending yesterday announced we think more than 200 billion if you add it all up. Taxes won’t go up to pay for that?”

“Mr Burnham responded: ‘I don’t know where you get that figure from. I’m not sure I recognise that figure.’ There you go. 200 billion or thereabouts of extra expenditure when we are already running a deficit of about 120 billion a year.”

The former Business Secretary warned the economy is running out of money, with Government expenditure running at about 45 per cent of GDP while taxation is at 38 per cent of GDP.

“However you cut taxation, however you squeeze people, this country is never willing to pay more than 38 per cent of GDP. So you have a settled, stark seven per cent deficit,” Rees-Mogg told GB News.

“You have still got around five per cent built in deficit. The only way to reduce it is by cutting expenditure. Instead, Andy Burnham wants to spend a lot more of your money by nationalisation, by deciding that the state runs things better than the private sector does.”

Rees-Mogg then exposed what he called the humbug of Burnham’s Brexit U-turn.

In May 2026, Burnham pledged not to re-run Brexit arguments, saying: “Our relentless focus now should be on domestic issues and fixing our own underlying problems, rather than on re-running divisive arguments about rejoining the European Union.”

But this week Burnham confirmed the UK could rejoin the EU, saying completely undoing Brexit is an option, and said Britain should weigh EU options including rejoining the bloc.

“And so you have torn all that up. He now wants to talk about rejoining the European Union to try and hide the domestic problems, which are ultimately going to overwhelm this Government,” Rees-Mogg said.

“As Margaret Thatcher said, the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

Rees-Mogg asked: “Which of you would like your supermarket to be run by His Majesty’s Government? Or would prefer it to be run by competitive private companies? Once you have answered that question, you know why the profit motive, the private sector is better at running things.”

Latest: Jacob Rees-Mogg on Andy Burnham spending

• Jacob Rees-Mogg says Burnham does not recognise 200 billion spending figure
• Warns UK running 45 per cent expenditure vs 38 per cent tax take
• Accuses Burnham of tearing up Times pledge to focus on domestic issues
• Says PM rerunning divisive EU arguments to hide domestic failure

Do you agree with Jacob Rees-Mogg? Is Burnham using the EU to distract from his spending black hole? Have your say in the comments and share.

FAQ: Jacob Rees-Mogg Andy Burnham row

What did Jacob Rees-Mogg say about Andy Burnham?
Jacob Rees-Mogg accused Andy Burnham of tearing up his promise to focus on domestic issues and rerunning divisive arguments about rejoining the EU to hide 200 billion pounds of extra spending.

How much is Andy Burnham planning to spend?
GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope put the figure at more than 200 billion pounds in extra expenditure, on top of an existing deficit of about 120 billion pounds a year, according to Jacob Rees-Mogg.

What did Andy Burnham promise in May?
In May 2026 Burnham told The Times his relentless focus should be on domestic issues rather than re-running divisive arguments about rejoining the EU.