Andy Burnham faced his first Prime Minister's Questions by Kemi Badenoch on 2 September, as government borrowing costs hit an 18-year high, with ten-year bond yields at their highest since 2008 and thirty-year yields at their highest since 1998. Burnham said his government would be 'grounded in fiscal responsibility’, blaming market turbulence on exposure left by the previous Conservative government. Badenoch pressed him to explain how he would fund a summer of cost-of-living announcements, including VAT cuts on energy bills and business rates relief for hospitality, without raising taxes. She cited comments from economist Lord Jim O'Neill, tipped as a possible economic adviser to Burnham, who praised the PM's 'great first five weeks' but warned his Commons tone had unsettled investors, though O'Neill also linked much of the market spike to US turmoil over the Iran conflict. Burnham hit back over Badenoch's reshuffle, noting that several new shadow ministers served in Liz Truss's short-lived government. The two leaders also clashed over defence spending, after Russia's alleged Leipzig airport attack.