Minister squirms on live TV as she admits £454m funding for Burnham’s £2 bus fare cap ‘hasn’t been worked out yet’

NewsPolitics LABOUR made yet another unfunded spending commitment after the Transport Secretary failed to show how they would pay for £2 cap on bus fares. Andy Burnham announced he would bring the cost of bus tickets from £3 to £2 from January until the end of 2027. Heidi Alexander failed to set out how Labour would pay for capping bus fares at £2 Credit: Getty Images Andy Burnham faces his second funding crisis for national projects in two days Credit: AP Ministers claimed it would cost the taxpayer £500million with most of the cash coming from Net Zero projects and eco-grants to poorer countries Labour would replace the grants with loans to help developing countries battle climate change. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! Asked whether this would mean crippling loans for poorer nations borrowing money, Heidi Alexander said the “detail” would need to be thought through. Ms Alexander told Sky News: “The detail of it needs to be worked through. But in order for loans to qualify as overseas development assistance, the terms of the loan need to be reasonably favourable to the developing country and it needs to contribute to developing that country’s economy. “So it makes sense to switch the spending, instead of being a grant it will be a loan, and that frees up money to spend on domestic priorities and to spend on our public transport.” Reform UK Chairman Lee Anderson MP said: “Any help with the cost of living for hard-working Brits is always welcome, but it’s clear that Andy Burnham has walked into No10 with absolutely no plan. “He’s already performed a full U-turn on his tax promises, and his flagship idea to cut VAT on electricity bills has been shot down by his own MPs for being completely unfunded. Brits will rightly be worried that he’ll be coming for their paypacket to pay for all of this.” Mr Burnham has kicked off his premiership by rolling out cost-of-living announcements, after unveiling that he would cut VAT on energy bills. Most read in The Sun He previously said it would be paid by abandoning the digital ID scheme. But the policy became a farce after an ally of Sir Keir Starmer said the digital ID scheme was not properly funded – so they would have to look elsewhere. Former cabinet minister Darren Jones said: “The Digital ID program was unfunded. The government will have to set out how it will pay for its new policies at the budget.” Capping bus fares at £2 will be badged as an attempt to help people back into work while also helping families with the cost of living. The England-wide bus fare cap was previously set at £2, but Sir Keir increased the level to £3 shortly after the 2024 general election. Tory MP Richard Holden hit back at the Government claiming it had originally been a Conservative policy. He said: [The] £2 bus fare was introduced by the Conservatives and was in our last manifesto The £2 scheme in Manchester was funded by over £1.1 billion from the last Conservative Government.” Comment now