Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has called for the Conservative's flagship high speed rail scheme to extend to Scotland.

The £50bn HS2 programme will link London and the north of England.

The Conservatives say that the railway line will speed up journeys from Scotland to London.

But Mr Burnham said the project should also cross the Border.

He also warned that the publication of the Chilcot report into the Iraq war would be a "sobering" moment for the Labour party that should impact on their future foreign policy.

And he broke with interim leader Harriet Harman to say the party should set out its opposition to parts of the package of benefit cuts unveiled by George Osborne.

Mr Burnham also said the party should vote against the Welfare Reform and Work Bill if the amendment is not passed.

But he appeared to indicate that he would not rebel if Ms Harman insists Labour MPs abstain in next week's vote.

The SNP have said they will vote against the welfare plans.

Mr Burnham insisted he was not "turning my face against welfare reform".

But he added he opposed parts of the Tory plans including to abolish measurements around child poverty.

Meanwhile Labour MP Stephen Kinnock has described plans to limit tax credits to two children as "awfully reminiscent of some kind of eugenics policy".

Ms Harman wants MPs to abstain in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill vote next week.

She argues that the move would allow the new party leader, due to be elected in September, to decide whether to oppose the tax credit element when it is debated in detail after the summer.

Mr Harman has also called on Labour to concentrate its fire on other parts of the Budget package - including cuts to tax credit and universal thresholds, maintenance loans for students from poor families, reductions to some disability payments and the abolition of child poverty targets.