The problem with Burnham’s specialist rape courts pledge
The meltdown in the criminal justice system has been particularly egregious for victims of rape and sexual violence. They have…
Rebranding net zero is daft
Would renaming the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero really make it easier for the government to persuade the…
Why the Lucy Letby Inquiry won’t change the NHS
It’s unlikely the families of the babies Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering at the Countess of Chester Hospital will…
Welfare reform will not save Andy Burnham
Andy Burnham repeatedly claims that he can fund defence using savings from the welfare budget – just not the ‘crude…
Britain already knows what’s wrong with maternity care
There are a lot of things we know about NHS maternity: that it’s in crisis, that there are a lot…
At PMQs, Burnham is short of answers
Kemi Badenoch attacked Andy Burnham on defence spending again for the second Prime Minister’s Questions where the pair faced each…
Good riddance, Monty Don
Farewell, then, Monty Don, the Gardener’s World presenter who didn’t seem to like gardeners very much. By gardener, I don’t…
Labour knows it can’t call immigration protesters racist
A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable for a Labour frontbencher to use a statement about the kind…
Is John Healey any different from Rachel Reeves?
John Healey has tried so far as chancellor to suggest that he is part of a ‘continuity’ Labour government –…
Can Burnham afford to delay raising defence spending?
Can Andy Burnham really delay setting out how he will raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by…
Burnham can’t keep being a people pleaser
Andy Burnham had a reasonable first outing at Prime Minister’s Questions today. He didn’t flounder, but he didn’t make it…
How is Burnham different to Starmer?
What is Andy Burnham really going to do that’s different from his predecessor? When he made his first address to…
Has Andy Burnham considered the consequences of early prison releases?
Victims will start receiving letters from today informing them that they will be affected by the early release of prisoners,…
How radical does Andy Burnham want to be?
Is Andy Burnham running a ‘circuit breaker’ government from the one led by Keir Starmer, or is it a ‘continuity’…
Burnham’s council housing pledge falls short
We are starting to see a pattern in the announcements that Andy Burnham has made over his first few weeks…
Britain is in for a difficult autumn
How hard is this autumn going to be? This week’s economic figures suggest pretty hard: job losses, higher-than-expected borrowing, and…
Why Burnham might regret his No.10 North plan
How realistic is Andy Burnham’s plan to make No. 10 North responsible for the government’s ‘growth mission’? The Prime Minister’s…
Should Prevent be scrapped?
The warning from the Children’s Commissioner that the Prevent programme can’t help ‘a cohort of children intoxicated by extremism’ might…
Will Yvette Cooper’s new mental health centres work?
Are mental health centres in libraries, banks and high street locations really going to make much of a difference? Health…
Andy Burnham must get used to being unpopular
Andy Burnham is apparently enjoying his first taste of unpopularity as prime minister, in the form of the furore over…
Burnham won’t reform social care with ‘cross-party consensus’
Does Andy Burnham really believe that cross-party consensus is going to resolve the decades-long stalemate on the funding of adult…
Burnham must also tackle the quality of Britain’s social care
Andy Burnham knows that ‘fixing’ social care will drain political capital away from him faster than a teenager emptying their…
Anas Sarwar’s peerage is hardly a surprise
To the surprise of very few in Scottish politics, bar apparently himself, Anas Sarwar is stepping down as leader of…
Does Burnham really know how to change Britain?
Andy Burnham told his Cabinet this morning that they need to give people a ‘sense that help is coming’. He…
Yvette Cooper is a left-field pick for Health Secretary
What does Yvette Cooper as Health Secretary mean for the NHS? It’s a question no one thought to ask before…
