All Blocks

With only weeks to go until he is expected to become Prime Minister, Andy Burnham will use a key speech to pledge to raise living standards through reindustrialisation, housing, infrastructure and reform of essential utilities22:01, 28 Jun 2026View 4 ImagesAndy Burnham will give a major speech on Monday on plans to 'lift Britain back up to where it should be'(Image: Peter Powell/PA Wire)Andy Burnham will promise to lead a 10-year mission to drive up living standards as he sets out his vision for Britain.With only weeks to go…

Andy Burnham arrived in Westminster last week to a heady atmosphere.Hot off his emphatic win in Makerfield, he received a warm reception from Labour MPs who crowded into Parliament's Westminster Hall to welcome him as a Prime Minister in waiting.But as the heatwave recedes, the political reality is setting in.Burnham and his small team have just over three weeks to firm up a programme for Government, to decide on his Cabinet, to staff a new No10 and to build a comms operation. He is being inundated with ideas from MPs, trade…

There is 'no doubt that we are facing a crisis in young people's mental health,' the children's commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza has said in a revealing reportBenjamin Lynch News Reporter and Aine Fox Press Association Social Affairs Correspondent23:01, 28 Jun 2026View 4 ImagesSome children have waited 'years' for support they 'urgently need' (file photo)(Image: Getty Images)More than a million children – roughly one in 10 – across England were referred to, waiting for or receiving treatment from mental health services,…

Ministers have been locked in an explosive battle over defence funding, which triggered the resignations of Defence Secretary John Healey and Al Carns, the armed forces minister22:35, 28 Jun 2026View 2 ImagesHMS Dragon, one of the Royal Navy Type 45 Daring-class air-defence destroyer warships(Image: AFP via Getty Images)Keir Starmer has ditched plans to replace the Royal Navy's ageing destroyers in favour of "hybrid" warships in a long-awaited plan to modernise the armed forces.At least six new Common Combat Vessels will…