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The Guardian Politics31 Jul 2026

Healey sets budget for late October, promising to ‘spread money and power’ around UK

Chancellor will have to find money for Burnham’s policies while sticking to fiscal rules as borrowing costs rise Andy Burnham’s government has set a date for a late October budget to “spread money and power” out of Westminster as the new prime minister pushes forward his tax and spending plans. Announcing an autumn budget for 28 October, the chancellor, John Healey, said Labour would stick to its fiscal rules with its agenda to give businesses and households stability for the future. Continue r

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics31 Jul 2026

Daughter of British couple killed in Spanish wildfire rejects claim they ignored order to leave

Exclusive: Danielle Kirton calls on Ed Miliband to help her get answers about why evacuation order came too late The bereaved daughter of a British couple who died in a Spanish wildfire is calling on Ed Miliband to get answers from Spain’s government about why her parents were not told to evacuate until it was too late. Severe wildfires have burned across Spain and France since early July, killing people, destroying thousands of homes and forcing more than 300,000 people to flee. Continue readi

Housing
The Guardian Politics31 Jul 2026

Andy Burnham signals he will scrap plans to curb jury trials

Prime minister says he has ‘concerns’ about one of most significant overhauls of Keir Starmer’s government UK politics live – latest updates Andy Burnham has indicated he will scrap plans to curtail jury trials in England and Wales, abandoning one of the most significant overhauls of Keir Starmer’s government. The prime minister said he had “concerns” about the proposals and that his “instincts” were to keep juries at the heart of the justice system. Continue reading...

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics31 Jul 2026

Can Andy Burnham turn a flying start into sustained success?

Labour has regained the lead in polling but the new PM will need to widen his appeal further to win a general election Andy Burnham has spent his first two weeks as prime minister in a blitz of hyperactivity. Bus fares, business rates, energy bill cuts, defence, Ukraine and devolution – he has been everywhere. But at his speech on Wednesday at Jewish Care in north London, there was a stark reminder of how much even the most energetic prime minister can cut through. Continue reading...

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics31 Jul 2026

Will Burnham fix our barbaric prisons – or cave to rightwing populism? The answer is a tragedy | Simon Jenkins

England and Wales’s prisons are overcrowded, drug-infested and barbaric. Labour has halted a once-in-a-generation effort to change that sorry state Andy Burnham’s “pausing” of the Starmer government’s prisoner release scheme and the resignation of its architect, James Timpson, are disasters. They indicate a Downing Street that puts populism ahead of policy. England and Wales’s prisons are a total disgrace. Timpson was the first justice minister in 15 years prepared to handle them. Now he has gon

PoliticsReformCrime
The Guardian Politics31 Jul 2026

Andy Burnham to set out devolution plan amid criticism it won’t benefit regions equally – UK politics live

Plan set to transform funding so English regions no longer rely on Whitehall handouts for projects Under a new “local first” principle, Andy Burnham will instruct ministers to justify why powers should remain in Whitehall rather than be devolved. As well as greater control over technical education for teenagers, announced by the government this week, some of those close to the prime minister have called for mayors to oversee schools, GPs and childcare providers through health and education commi

PoliticsEducation
The Guardian Politics31 Jul 2026

The Burnham bounce is eclipsing the Green surge – and Zack Polanski’s radical hope is being tested | Gaby Hinsliff

The new PM is enjoying a honeymoon period but, longer-term, the Greens have the freedom to say whatever Labour won’t Cackling happily into their pints, the two most powerful men in the country scoff their way through a selection of pub snacks. Pork scratchings or scampi fries? Or maybe old-school peanuts? It’s hardly the toughest choice currently facing Andy Burnham and the chancellor, John Healey, so some may find this week’s made-to-go-viral Instagram reel of them gleefully ranking crisps a b

PoliticsEnvironmentHousing
The Guardian Politics31 Jul 2026

Think our basic rights are safe? In the age of oligarchs and corporate lobbying, think again | George Monbiot

The global assault on our freedoms is coming ever closer to home. Just look at the sinister prosecution of UK lawyer Rajiv Menon No more resistance in the US. The era of human rights is over, and dissent is once more forbidden. This is what certain billionaires and their concierges want, and this is the model they’re also seeking to project across the world. If we fail to resist, if our new prime minister is as weak and suggestible as the last one, this is what we will get. In fact, we are halfw

The Guardian Politics30 Jul 2026

Burnham’s tax power shift aims to free England’s mayors from ‘Treasury death grip’

Local leaders say plan will transform funding so they no longer rely on Whitehall handouts for big projects England’s regional mayors will be able to break out of the “death grip of the Treasury” by borrowing to invest in big projects under “transformational” plans to shift power out of Whitehall. For the first time, mayors will keep a share of income tax generated in their area from 2028, as well as business rates totalling tens of millions of pounds by April 2027. Continue reading...

Economy
The Guardian Politics30 Jul 2026

Diane Abbott and Joani Reid readmitted as Labour MPs

Both MPs have had the parliamentary whip restored following separate independent disciplinary processes MPs Diane Abbott and Joani Reid have been readmitted into Labour and had the parliamentary whip restored, just under two weeks into Andy Burnham’s premiership. The party confirmed that this followed separate independent disciplinary processes, although Labour said the leadership played no role in either decision. Continue reading...

Politics
The Guardian Politics30 Jul 2026

The Guardian view on prolonging kidulthood: Britain prices young adults out of independent life | Editorial

More young people live with parents as low wages, insecure work and unaffordable housing turn family support into another source of inequality In Britain, young people are expected to become independent in their 20s. Yet the UK’s economic model increasingly denies them the means to do so. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), commissioned partly for the BBC, finds that the proportion of 25-year-olds living with their parents has risen from 25% in the 1990s to 42% today. The researc

EconomyHousing
The Guardian Politics30 Jul 2026

Burnham promises ‘pragmatic’ approach to North Sea oil and gas

PM tells reporters the government cannot ignore the energy resource ‘when people are struggling’ Andy Burnham has said he will take a “pragmatic” approach to oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, saying the government could not ignore the potential energy resources it holds. The prime minister’s comments came in response to a question about his conversation with Donald Trump on his first day in No 10. Trump had said Burnham told him he would “open up” North Sea oil, something the UK summary of