LIVE:  Burnham says ‘difficult decisions’ ahead to fund cost-of-living plans

We're ending our live coverage of Andy Burnham's opening two days in Downing Street. 

You can read the latest developments here.

Andy Burnham has insisted the country needs a "Cost-of-living Government" as he told struggling families: 'help is coming'.

The incoming PM told his top team: 'What can we do just to take that little bit of pressure off people’s shoulders, just to give them that little extra sense that help is coming so that they can have that bit of hope that things are getting better.'

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The first ministers have arrived for Andy Burnham’s first Cabinet meeting as Prime Minister.

Lucy Powell and Miatta Fahnbulleh arrived, before Wes Streeting and Chris Bryant entered No 10 together. Angela Rayner then arrived for the meeting, scheduled for 12.30pm.

They ignored questions from journalists regarding the electricity bills VAT cut.

Shortly after Yvette Cooper, the new Health Secretary arrived, smiling and telling reporters “good afternoon”.

Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary was next to arrive, also ignoring the question “has the Chancellor got his numbers wrong?” from journalists.

Reform MP Lee Anderson has told LBC that Andy Burnham needs to put his ideas to the people and let them decide in an election. 

He said: "If Andy Burnham's going to come out and say he's going to deliver the biggest change in politics for 40 years and produce a 10-year plan for this country, a plan, by the way, which this Labour government wasn't elected on, then I think the fairest thing it can do is put it to the country and let them decide if it's a good plan. 

"If his 40-year plan for changing politics for the better is a good idea, then the public will vote for it."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for stability as he criticised the high turnover of Prime Ministers in the last decade. 

Speaking to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, he said: "It's been not the way to run a country for many years now. 

"I mean, seven prime ministers in 10 years. It's not just Her Majesty and His Majesty we should worry about; it's the country. It's madness, isn't it? 

"I think we're a laughing stock because we keep having all these different prime ministers, and I think we do need, desperately need some stability."

Andy Burnham is set to announce new support to help people with the cost-of-living crisis and will chair his first Cabinet meeting after he took office as Prime Minister.

The new premier promised to provide early “breathing space” for households struggling with the cost of living as he stood on the steps of No 10, pledging to set out details on Tuesday.

In his first address to the nation as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham pledged the biggest change to British politics in 40 years, and said he would deliver “a new political model and a new economic model” for Britain.

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Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, has taken to X to undermine the funding of Burnham's VAT cut to energy bills.

It had been claimed the cut, which amounts to a saving of around £45 for the average household, would be funded by the scrapping of the government's Digital ID scheme.

However, Darren Jones insisted on Tuesday that the scheme had never been fully funded, meaning there were no funds to reallocate. 

It adds weight to the growing multi-billion-pound funding black hole faced by former Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Kemi Badenoch questioned how Andy Burnham will fund policies without putting up taxes or borrowing more. 

She wrote on X:  "I welcome action to cut the cost of energy which is too high because of Ed Miliband’s policies.

"But the question is how will Burnham fund all his new policies without putting up taxes or borrowing even more.

"Until yesterday, Darren Jones was in charge of DigitalID and the Chief Secretary to the PM. So if he tells people the DigitalID programme was unfunded, he will know what he’s talking about. It’s only one day into Burnham’s Government and already the explanations are falling apart. You can’t use the funding from an unfunded programme to pay for cheaper bills.

"Conservatives have set out our fully funded Cheap Power Plan that will cut family energy bills by £200, including by cutting their VAT. We are paying for that by getting Britain drilling and scrapping Net Zero policies. John Healey should take a look at it and steal our ideas."

Executive chairman of Iceland Foods and former Cost of Living Champion, Lord Richard Walker, has shown his support for the newly appointed Chancellor, John Healey. 

He told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast he thought the appointment was "quite an inspired choice actually".

He added: "I was worried about some of the other potential candidates who might freak out the markets and give business a wobble."

 In an upbeat message on his Truth Social platform, the president also wished the new Prime Minister “good luck and godspeed”.

The early endorsement of the former Greater Manchester mayor by the American leader comes after the pair spoke on the phone within an hour of the Makerfield MP arriving in Downing Street.

It will also assuage fears after the Republican president previously described Mr Burnham as “extremely liberal” and “mayor of a town”.

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