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Andy Burnham — page 9

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Coverage, page 9

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Burnham must understand Wales is ‘not a region in England’, says first minister

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the first non-Labour Senedd leader, questions Westminster’s willingness to relinquish powers Andy Burnham has to be serious about devolution and understand that Wales is a nation and “not a region in England”, according to the country’s first minister. Rhun ap Iorwerth, who is the first non-Labour leader of the Senedd since devolution, told the Guardian that while he was encouraged by initial discussions with the new UK prime minister, he was wary about Burnham being captured by a consensus Westminster view against relinquishing further powers. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Peter Walker Senior political correspondent13 Sept

Why did the assisted dying bill fail in the Commons? | Rowena Mason

MPs quietly withdrew support when it became clear it was not a priority of Andy Burnham’s government After two years of impassioned arguments, tearful personal testimonies, noisy protests and ethical dilemmas, the assisted dying bill for England and Wales failed on a knife edge. Campaigners on the pro side largely blame the House of Lords for making it seem an impossible struggle to get the bill through parliament, after blocking it the first time by putting through more than 1,000 amendments so that it ran out of time. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Rowena Mason Whitehall editor11 Sept

Why did the assisted dying bill fail in the Commons? | Rowena Mason

MPs quietly withdrew support when it became clear it was not a priority of Andy Burnham’s government After two years of impassioned arguments, tearful personal testimonies, noisy protests and ethical dilemmas, the assisted dying bill for England and Wales failed on a knife edge. Campaigners on the pro side largely blame the House of Lords for making it seem an impossible struggle to get the bill through parliament, after blocking it the first time by putting through more than 1,000 amendments so that it ran out of time. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Rowena Mason Whitehall editor11 Sept

Why did the assisted dying bill fail in the Commons? | Rowena Mason

MPs quietly withdrew support when it became clear it was not a priority of Andy Burnham’s government After two years of impassioned arguments, tearful personal testimonies, noisy protests and ethical dilemmas, the assisted dying bill for England and Wales failed on a knife edge. Campaigners on the pro side largely blame the House of Lords for making it seem an impossible struggle to get the bill through parliament, after blocking it the first time by putting through more than 1,000 amendments so that it ran out of time. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Rowena Mason Whitehall editor11 Sept

UK lawmakers urge Burnham to block creation of artificial superintelligence after chilling warnings

Letter from 70 MPs and peers follows Anthropic employee’s claim new technology could wipe out humans AI could kill all humans in next decade, warn experts: but how seriously should we take them? More than 70 MPs and peers have urged Andy Burnham to back a ban on the creation of artificial superintelligence (ASI) and lead an international movement to stop the technology after a week of warnings from experts of a 10% chance it could kill all humans. Fifteen former government ministers, along with the former head of the civil service Robin Butler, senior Labour MPs including John McDonnell and leading Conservatives, Liberal Democrat and SNP MPs have written to the prime minister. They urged him to throw the government’s weight behind a bill, tabled in the Commons on Tuesday that would prohibit ASI – an as-yet-nonexistent AI that outcompetes human capabilities in most domains. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Robert Booth UK technology editor11 Sept

Pressure grows on Burnham to commit to increasing statutory paternity leave

Exclusive: Calls from Labour grow as 105 MPs write to PM urging ‘obvious’ step to alleviate cost of living crisis Andy Burnham is coming under increasing pressure from his own MPs to commit to improving paternity leave in the UK in the next budget, with more than a quarter of Labour MPs writing to the prime minister to urge him to take action. Ahead of the chancellor’s first budget next month, 105 MPs have written to Burnham calling on him to increase statutory paternity leave to help alleviate the cost of living crisis and arguing that lowest-paid fathers are the hardest hit by meagre paternity leave provision. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Alexandra Topping Political correspondent11 Sept

Pressure grows on Burnham to commit to increasing statutory paternity leave

Exclusive: Calls from Labour grow as 105 MPs write to PM urging ‘obvious’ step to alleviate cost of living crisis Andy Burnham is coming under increasing pressure from his own MPs to commit to improving paternity leave in the UK in the next budget, with more than a quarter of Labour MPs writing to the prime minister to urge him to take action. Ahead of the chancellor’s first budget next month, 105 MPs have written to Burnham calling on him to increase statutory paternity leave to help alleviate the cost of living crisis and arguing that lowest-paid fathers are the hardest hit by meagre paternity leave provision. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Alexandra Topping Political correspondent11 Sept

Pressure grows on Burnham to commit to increasing statutory paternity leave

Exclusive: Calls from Labour grow as 105 MPs write to PM urging ‘obvious’ step to alleviate cost of living crisis Andy Burnham is coming under increasing pressure from his own MPs to commit to improving paternity leave in the UK in the next budget, with more than a quarter of Labour MPs writing to the prime minister to urge him to take action. Ahead of the chancellor’s first budget next month, 105 MPs have written to Burnham calling on him to increase statutory paternity leave to help alleviate the cost of living crisis and arguing that lowest-paid fathers are the hardest hit by meagre paternity leave provision. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Alexandra Topping Political correspondent11 Sept

MPs to vote again on assisted dying as bill returns to parliament – UK politics live

Bill would allow terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to end their lives, after the approval of a panel of experts Morning, and welcome to our UK politics blog. The assisted dying bill is back in the Commons today, where MPs will vote on a proposal that would allow adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live to seek medical assistance to end their lives. MPs had previously voted through the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, brought forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, in June 2025, but it foundered in the House of Lords earlier this year after opponents tabled more than 1,280 amendments. Prime minister Andy Burnham has confirmed he will not vote, saying he does not want to “unduly influence the debate”. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Taz Ali11 Sept

The Guardian view on the prisons crisis: moving men into women’s jails is not the answer | Editorial

Kneejerk reactions to overcrowding will do more harm than good. Ministers should focus on probation It is not hard to see why ministers are considering converting parts of the women’s prison estate for use by men. While Andy Burnham’s decision to narrow the early-release scheme was born of political necessity, it has made an already acute capacity problem worse. Excluding manslaughter and further sexual offences cut projected early releases from 6,000 to 4,500 . The family of PC Andrew Harper, who was killed on duty in 2019, welcomed the assurance that his killers would not be released early. But the change left overcrowded English and Welsh jails with even less room. The government is trying to innovate. Last week it was announced that £110m will be spent on creating new cells in existing jails, by converting underused spaces such as storage and laundry areas. Deportations are to be speeded up, if foreign governments can be persuaded to cooperate. There is an overdue and welcome commitment to examine how indeterminate imprisonment for public protection sentences can be phased out. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here . Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Editorial10 Sept

Why are we giving a £24bn-a-year subsidy to profitable commercial banks? | Letter

Gerald Holtham suggests that it time to cut the 3.75% that the Bank of England pays out on the lenders’ reserves There are increasing calls for a windfall tax on banks ( Taxing the banks: what Europe’s windfall levies brought in as Burnham eyes his next move, 2 September ). Such a tax is unnecessary; it would be enough simply to stop paying commercial banks a huge existing subsidy. The Bank of England holds the reserve deposits of the commercial banks and pays its policy interest rate on the entirety of those reserves. Paying 3.75% on about £640bn means handing over £24bn a year of public money to profitable commercial concerns. The Bank does so only to control the banks’ lending rates by establishing a floor. Yet that could be done more economically by paying interest on a marginal slice of the reserves. The Bank could announce a tranche for each bank and declare that any reduction in reserves from that level is counted as coming firstly from the interest-bearing tranche. That keeps the same marginal opportunity cost to the banks and ensures interest-rate policy is effective. If the tranche were 20%, there would be a gross saving of more than £19bn a year. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Guardian Staff10 Sept

Labour shifts on Israel, but what difference will it make? – podcast

It has been a huge week for Labour as Ed Miliband shifted the party’s stance on Israel by announcing sanctions on the illegal settlements in the West Bank and describing what is happening as ethnic cleansing. What is behind this shift, and will it make any difference on the ground? You can read Kiran’s analysis on Andy Burnham’s stance here You can read Peter’s article on the Green party internal dispute here Please keep sending your comments and questions to Pippa and Kiran on politicsweeklyuk@theguardian.com Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Presented by Kiran Stacey and Peter Walker, produced by Alex Atack, music by Axel Kacoutié; the executive producer is Maz Ebtehaj10 Sept

JP Morgan boss meets Burnham and Healey to warn against bank tax rise

Jamie Dimon tells UK politicians before October budget that investment could be at risk, it is understood Jamie Dimon, chief executive of the largest US bank, JP Morgan, is understood to have warned Andy Burnham and his chancellor, John Healey, against raising taxes on banks in his inaugural budget in October. The Wall Street billionaire met the politicians on Wednesday and cautioned them that higher taxes could put investment and employment in the UK at risk, it is understood. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Lauren Almeida10 Sept

‘Fundamentally unfair’: Burnham must overhaul migration reforms, says TUC general secretary

Paul Nowak says changes to immigration rules risk overstretching social care and fuelling far-right sentiment Andy Burnham must overhaul Shabana Mahmood’s migration reforms or risk overstretching social care and fuelling far-right sentiment, the TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, has warned. Speaking ahead of the TUC’s annual congress in Brighton next week, Nowak welcomed the “sense of optimism” around Burnham’s fledgling government, but he urged the PM to act in a series of areas, including migration and the cost of living. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Heather Stewart10 Sept

Is Burnham trying to appease Trump? Or Reform? What other reason is there for these North Sea oil plans? | George Monbiot

Climate catastrophe is on our doorstep – yet Labour’s impending approval of further drilling will bring more pain for negligible gains Pinch yourself, it’s happening again. Here is a Labour government spending a vast amount of political capital to earn tiny material gains while risking huge political losses. It occurred repeatedly under Keir Starmer, and now – with the impending decision to approve further gas and oil drilling in the North Sea – it is happening under Andy Burnham. You rack your brains to explain it, but no rational explanation comes. Burnham is studiously cryptic about his reasons. His clearest statement to date goes as follows: “There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can’t ignore that.” Does he mean that oil and gas workers are struggling? If so, this decision will be of little use to them. The Jackdaw gasfield, likely to be approved this week, will generate a grand total of 27 direct full-time jobs . The Rosebank oilfield, whose approval is likely to follow soon, will support 450 UK-based jobs during its lifetime. Yet the UK’s net zero economy directly employs 300,000 people , and a further 400,000 jobs are planned. The rest of the green economy employs more than 600,000 . A just transition for fossil fuel workers, securing jobs in the green economy, is better for everyone. George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•George Monbiot10 Sept