Overview
- The Commons resumed this week, which put Burnham under immediate scrutiny with his first formal speech as prime minister and his first Prime Minister’s Questions against opposition leader Kemi Badenoch.
- The government announced revisions to an early-release prison scheme, which will exclude two killers of PC Andrew Harper and aim to create capacity by building new places, deporting some foreign prisoners and ending some indefinite sentences.
- Polls show the initial ‘Burnham bounce’ has peaked, with Labour’s small lead over Reform UK narrowing and pollsters warning there is no clear case for an early general election.
- Ministers must reconcile public-control promises for water, energy and transport with tight public finances and manifesto tax limits as Chancellor John Healey delays a firm date for meeting a 3% of GDP defence-spending target until the spending review.
- Key tests lie ahead: the October 28 Budget and a later spending review will determine how much the government can fund cost-of-living support, defence investment and decisions on North Sea projects such as Rosebank and Jackdaw, and those outcomes will shape party unity and public backing.