‘Andy Burnham have to be daring to maintain his reputation rising – it is time to see if he is real with change’

“In cutting energy bills by £50 and reintroducing national £2 bus fares, the PM gave voters purse-padding and eye-catching downpayments… but what happens next is what matters most”

View 4 Images

Style and substance both matter, which is why Andy Burnham’s popularity will survive and grow only if the Prime Minister is bold.

Change not continuity was his attractive offer and Parliament this week reconvening for a fortnight after the summer recess poses a significant test for a leader voters want to see walk the talk after promising “the biggest change in 40 years”. Improving living standards, easing a cost of living squeeze inherited from the Conservatives, remains his number one priority but Donald Trump’s Iran fiasco is biting financially and he must find a way of avoiding impalement on the hook of rash military spending rises.

Chancellor John Healey’s understandably taking fire for wriggling away from the increases he quit as Defence Secretary over but Burnham would blow up his government if October’s Budget was all missiles. The TUC and left-wing MPs want the PM to tax jackpot bank and oil profits. They also want him to put capital gains tax on landlords, and sales of shares, on a par with income tax, raising billions. This is a test of whether Burnham is prepared to confront prosperous vested interests.

Blocking the early release of two of PC Andrew Harper’s killers finally took the heat out of a dangerous controversy but fresh challenges on everything from a failing water industry to sanctions on goods from Israeli settlers violently occupying Palestine’s West Bank will confront the PM.

That Old Big Eyes, as one swooning fan described Burnham, is a breath of fresh air after the awkwardness of Keir Starmer is undeniable and largely responsible for the Labour poll bounce. Adopting a conciliatory consensus-seeking tone at his first PMQs on Wednesday could successfully pigeonhole combative Kemi “the honeymoon is over” Badenoch and prickly retread Nigel “Loadsamoney” Farage as petty party politicians.

In cutting energy bills by £50 and reintroducing national £2 bus fares, the PM gave voters purse-padding and eye-catching downpayments. But what happens next is what matters most and every single decision, approving North Sea oil and gas drilling while turbo-charging renewable energy among them, will earn bouquets and brickbats.

Labour Lefties fret Burnham’s more style than substance after he denied their wing ministerial jobs. Burnham, however, is full of boyish enthusiasm, with Reform’s financial scandals an added bonus.

Boldness won the former Greater Manchester Mayor No10. Buckle up as we discover whether he is genuine change or continuity with a fresh vibe.

Smoggies need safety

Protection for the rich and fear for the ordinary decent… Harry and Meghan can waltz back into Britain demanding 24-hour armed police guards to keep them safe while frightened families in scarred Middlesbrough tremble ahead of the withdrawal of 200 extra cops.

If I was making the call on spending millions extra on security, it would be on the good people of Teesside rather than a posh house in the Cotswolds where an entitled wealthy couple who quit and slagged off Britain to make their fortune in the US returned demanding special treatment.

Devoting a fortune to shielding the few at the cost of the overwhelming majority is another class chasm, with Middlesbrough and Thornaby East local Labour MP Andy McDonald warning organised criminals are inflicting “terrorism”.

This is an area where nine people, including two police officers plus a woman and child in what is now thought to be an unrelated house fire, were killed within days.

Loaded Harry and Meghan paid for personal protection in America and should be told by the Home Secretary that moving back to Britain isn’t a money-saving project with taxpayers now picking up their bill. Public resources are precious. Smoggies in Middlesbrough unable to buy or rent huge homes are surely more deserving than a gilded elite setting up court in the Cotswolds.

Data centre fear foolish

I do hope data centres don’t become the new 5G conspiracy theory, a re-run of Covid nutters vandalising scores of mobile phone masts.

Petitions against new ones signed from phones, tablets, laptops and desk computers display a laughable lack of self-awareness when they rely on the very centres they oppose.

Yes, limited numbers of new jobs are directly created and vast amounts of electricity consumed yet Green leader Zack Polanski advocating a freeze on new data centre approvals is like trying to stop the clock.

We need to build capacity including regulating, controlling and publicly owning cyberspace to escape the poisonous clutches of the likes of Elon Musk. Keeping us behind would be a strategic mistake.

The cleanest of donations

Trade union money is by far the cleanest in politics when millions of workers contribute a few quid each, so it’s easy and fair to cap fatcats without unjustly penalising organised labour.

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy’s amendment to the Representation of the People Bill proposing a £500,000 decreasing limit is just the job by accepting money aggregated from thousands of members is fundamentally different to huge billionaire bungs.

Which is why it’s regrettable the PM is backing away from the half-a-mill max he favoured during the Makerfield by-election. Democracy is the victim when Thai-based tycoon Christopher Harborne gives Reform £9million on top of earlier bankrolling as well as giving Nigel Farage a secret £5m, while IT magnate Frank Hester’s £15m to the Cons was obscene after his vile abuse of Diane Abbott.

Millions contributing small amounts is better than moguls buying political parties with millions.

Going up

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is over-seeing a border success with small boat arrivals down two-fifths and asylum hotel use halved.

But don’t expect praise from rabid Reform and Cons who fester grievances rather than finding answers.

Going down

Reform by-election dodger Danny Kruger is a ballot box prize hypocrite when this gerrymandering Tory turncoat wants to disenfranchise holiday-makers while denying East Wiltshire folk a vote on whether they want a flapping chicken as their MP.