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  • NEWS STORY : Richard Hermer Leaves Government

    NEWS STORY : Richard Hermer Leaves Government

    STORY

    Richard Hermer has left Government as Andy Burnham begins reshaping his ministerial team after replacing Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. Hermer had served as Attorney General since July 2024 and was one of the most prominent legal figures brought into Government by Starmer after Labour’s general election victory.

    The move forms part of a wider clear-out of senior figures associated with Starmer’s administration. David Lammy, Steve Reed, Rachel Reeves and Peter Kyle were also among those leaving Government as Burnham moved quickly to assemble his own team on his first day in Downing Street.

    Hermer’s departure is politically significant because the Attorney General is the Government’s principal legal adviser and oversees bodies including the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office and the Government Legal Department. The office also has public interest functions, including references of unduly lenient sentences and interventions in certain legal proceedings.

    Hermer was appointed Attorney General on 5 July 2024, shortly after Starmer entered Downing Street. A barrister who was called to the Bar in 1993 and took silk in 2009, he had previously been head of chambers at Matrix and had served as a deputy High Court judge.

  • PRESS RELEASE : New PM says government can bring back hope to Britain, and launches drive to end rough sleeping at the earliest opportunity [July 2026]

    PRESS RELEASE : New PM says government can bring back hope to Britain, and launches drive to end rough sleeping at the earliest opportunity [July 2026]

    The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 20 July 2026.

    The Prime Minister used his first speech in office to launch an urgent national drive to end rough sleeping at the earliest opportunity, setting out a bold ambition to tackle one of the starkest injustices in the country. This will be backed from day one by an additional £340 million – taking overall funding to record levels.

    • In his speech on the steps of 10 Downing Street the Prime Minister announced a new national effort to end rough sleeping, backed by record investment
    • Prime Minister says government can bring back hope to Britain and rejects the claim that ending rough sleeping will take decades or that it can’t be done
    • Prime Minister says the crisis has been caused by years of national government failure and Westminster turning a blind eye
    • Mayors, councils, the NHS, public services and government departments will now be backed to provide urgent support for vulnerable people before the winter

    The Prime Minister used his first speech in office to launch an urgent national drive to end rough sleeping at the earliest opportunity, setting out a bold ambition to tackle one of the starkest injustices in the country. This will be backed from day one by an additional £340 million – taking overall funding to record levels. 

    The policy forms a key part of his pledge on the steps of Downing Street to help everyone to live well and build a more preventative state, investing in success rather than paying for failure. Crisis research shows that a year of rough sleeping costs an estimated £20,128 per person, versus £1,426 for a successful prevention intervention.

    The Prime Minister rejects the notion that ending rough sleeping will take decades or that it can’t be done at all. The experience of ‘Everyone In’ during the pandemic, showed that with the right political will, it can be done. He is clear that the rough sleeping crisis has been caused by years of systemic failure in national policy. Westminster has too often turned a blind eye to rough sleeping, which has been all too apparent to local leaders. Ambitious local leaders will now be backed with the full support of central government.

    Before walking up Downing Street to address the nation, the Prime Minister met people with experience of sleeping rough. He heard how it can trap people in a cycle of crisis, poor health and insecurity. He believes that thousands of people sleeping rough every night in our country is not inevitable, but a choice by politicians, and that he will take immediate action to change how the government treats the issue.  

    Urgent first steps will begin to help those sleeping rough over a long period to move into secure housing. This includes beginning the acquisition of suitable homes, identifying those most in need and starting to provide housing and support without delay.

    The new funding is the first phase of investment in a wider five-year programme that will provide homes and support for thousands of the people facing the most severe and long-term homelessness. Further steps will be set out before the autumn.

    This effort will benefit everyone: transforming the lives of people who have spent long periods on the streets, strengthening towns and communities, and reducing the pressure that repeated crisis interventions place on the NHS, the criminal justice system and other public services.  

    Local leaders will lead the delivery of the programme, building on proven local-led approaches that have helped to tackle rough sleeping in communities across the country. The new funding, which represents the opening investment, will provide 1,200 homes and intensive support for at least 3,000 people.

    Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:

    For too long, we’ve been told that ending rough sleeping will take decades or even that it’s impossible. I’m not having that. 

    This is something a government can fix if it chooses to. Today, I’m choosing to.

    On my first day as Prime Minister, I’m announcing this government’s commitment to finally end long-term rough sleeping across the UK at the earliest opportunity.

    We’ll get to work immediately, bringing together national and local government with the investment needed to get it done.

    This is the kind of Britain I want us to be – a country where everyone has the security of a roof over their head, and where no one is left behind or written off. Let’s bring back hope.

  • James Cleverly – 2026 Comments on Andy Burnham’s Opening Statement

    James Cleverly – 2026 Comments on Andy Burnham’s Opening Statement

    The comments made by James Cleverly, the Shadow Housing Secretary, on 20 July 2026.

    In his speech in Downing Street, Burnham promised he would ‘go through that door behind me and issue my first instruction to end rough sleeping in our country’.

    But there is precious little detail on how this will be paid for. Burnham must come clean on what other MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) programmes have been salami-sliced to fill the gap.

    In Manchester, Burnham promised to end rough sleeping, but failed because he didn’t do the hard work necessary. Now, again, he is making pledges without any plan for delivery.

    If he is really serious about government, he should lay out proposals cut welfare, fund defence and get Britain working again.

  • David Lammy – 2026 Statement after Being Dismissed

    David Lammy – 2026 Statement after Being Dismissed

    The statement made by David Lammy after being dismissed as Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice on 20 July 2026.

    It has been the greatest privilege of my life, coming from humble beginnings in Tottenham, to serve in government as Keir Starmer’s Foreign Secretary, Justice Secretary and Britain’s first Black Deputy Prime Minister.

    I am immensely proud of what we achieved, in Opposition and in Government.

    I would have been proud to continue serving in Cabinet. But a new Prime Minister is entitled to build his own team, and I wish Andy Burnham and the new Cabinet every success.

    I will continue to serve the great people of Tottenham, support this Labour government from the backbenches and do everything I can to help defeat Reform again at the next general election.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2026 Resignation Statement

    Rachel Reeves – 2026 Resignation Statement

    The statement made by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 20 July 2026.

    It has been the privilege of my life to serve as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The economy today is stronger, fairer and more resilient because of the choices we have taken as a Labour Government over the past two years.

    Stability restored, investment delivered and reform to our economy under way. I said when I was appointed Chancellor that I would judge my time in office if the lives ordinary working class people have been improved.

    I’m proud to say that they have. And to every young woman and girl let my time in office show there should be no ceilings on your ambitions, your hopes or your dreams. I wish the very best of luck to my successor, Andy and his cabinet.

    You have my full support, and I will continue to play my part in helping this Labour government deliver the change the country needs.

  • Donald Tusk – 2026 Comments on Andy Burnham Becoming Prime Minister

    Donald Tusk – 2026 Comments on Andy Burnham Becoming Prime Minister

    The comments made by Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, on 20 July 2026.

    Congratulations, Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Wishing you lots of strength and success in your new role. Poland and the United Kingdom are close friends and allies. I look forward to working together with you for a safer and stronger Europe

  • Andy Burnham – 2026 First Speech as Prime Minister

    Andy Burnham – 2026 First Speech as Prime Minister

    The speech made by Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, on 20 July 2026.

    I have just come from Buckingham Palace, where I have accepted His Majesty the King’s invitation to form a government.

    In doing so, I am acutely conscious that I am the sixth person in the last ten years to walk up this street, the seventh Prime Minister since 2016.

    Making this a moment for reflection and new resolution.

    It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game, and rise to the new challenge.

    Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again, and that is our challenge, to make politics work, to make it work better.

    I know people at home are fed up with politics. I hear you. And I want to be honest with you. We have not been good enough, and we need to be better.

    We will be.

    We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last forty years.

    A new political model and a new economic model.

    In the 1980s, Britain took some wrong turns. Political power was centralised, economic power privatised, large parts of the country de-industrialised, and they still haven’t recovered.

    Many feel as though they’re still in decline, and they don’t have the ability to turn things around.

    And that’s why we will change politics, to make it more collaborative, more about problem solving than point scoring.

    We will take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land so that they can do more.

    And in doing more, build a new economy where we put life’s essentials back under stronger public control to make them affordable to you again.

    Re-industrialising Britain, using public procurement to back British industry.

    Later this year, I will bring forward a new plan for Britain, a 10-year plan, laying out a path from where we are now to where I believe we all want Britain to be, wherever we’re coming from, whatever party we support.

    But I can do something to give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living.

    And I will set out some of those measures starting tomorrow, including how we pay for them.

    We will help more young people into work by changing the education system and giving them more support, more mental health support.

    And we will build more council homes.

    That is the fair and sustainable way to bring the welfare bill down, to meet our fiscal rules, and to honour our commitments on defence to our international partners.

    We will help people to live well, building a more preventative state, investing in people’s success, rather than paying for failure.

    And that work starts now.

    I will soon go through that door behind me and issue my first instruction: to end rough sleeping in our country.

    It’s about putting the right values and the right standards at the heart of government.

    I will put the care of people at the heart of everything I do.

    I will give this my all, and I ask you all to pull with me.

    Let’s build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity.

    Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again.

    The moment we bring back hope.

    Thank you very much everybody.

  • PRESS RELEASE : King Confirms Appointment of Andy Burnham as Prime Minister

    PRESS RELEASE : King Confirms Appointment of Andy Burnham as Prime Minister

    The press release issued by Buckingham Palace on 20 July 2026.

    His Majesty received in audience the Rt Hon Andrew Burnham MP and requested him to form a new Administration. The Rt Hon Andrew Burnham MP accepted The King’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.

    Ms Marie-France van Heel was also received by His Majesty.

  • Keir Starmer – 2026 Final Speech as Prime Minister

    Keir Starmer – 2026 Final Speech as Prime Minister

    The speech made by Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street on 20 July 2026.

    Today I am here to offer my resignation and close the book on my time as Prime Minister. My work is done.

    In six and a half years, I took our party from a historic defeat in 2019, changed it so it was fit to face the country and won a landslide general election victory in 2024.

    Since then, it has been the privilege of my life to serve you and this great country as Prime Minister. I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago.

    Our economy is stronger. Our public services are on the up, with the biggest fall in waiting times for 17 years. Children are being lifted out of poverty every single day. Immigration is down significantly. Our defence and security are on a far stronger footing. And our international reputation is greatly enhanced.

    Yet the thing I will always take away with me, the most humbling aspect of this job, is the front row seat you get to witness the greatest things of this country in action. To see, every day, immeasurable acts of resolve, grit, decency and compassion. From people who serve our country, whether that’s in their regimental colours, NHS scrubs, or simply the millions of people in their communities who volunteer their time and their effort to the ground beneath their feet.

    We face a world now where our enemies will stop at nothing to divide us because of our values, our freedom, our decency, and frankly, because of our unflinching resolve towards the brave people of Ukraine. And so under this attack, it is vital that we remember the greatness of the Britain all around us. That while we debate how to fix our problems, there is something we inherit from our country and our character that can give us confidence that we can change our country for the better; that we can create a Britain where every child can go as far as their talent will take them. And we can unite different people under our common flag if we don’t succumb to that division.

    So, as I now pass the baton to Andy Burnham, I wish him every success. He has my full support.

    And finally, I want to thank once again my family, Vic and our children, my team, all the staff here and across the Labour Party, everyone at Number 10 and across the civil service, and everyone who has supported our efforts along the way.

    For all the focus on individuals, politics will always be a team sport. And the changes we’ve delivered for our country and our party belong to everyone who has fought for them. I thank them again today.

    And I thank the British people for the opportunity to serve. I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved. Thank you very much.

  • NEWS STORY : Lord Timpson leaves Government as Burnham prepares prisons reshuffle

    NEWS STORY : Lord Timpson leaves Government as Burnham prepares prisons reshuffle

    STORY

    Lord Timpson has stepped down as prisons minister after it has been reported that Andy Burnham decided not to keep him in the role as part of his first Government reshuffle. The businessman and prison reform campaigner became the first ministerial departure on the day Burnham took over from Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.

    Timpson was appointed Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending in July 2024 after leaving his role as chief executive of the Timpson Group. His appointment was seen as one of Starmer’s more unusual early ministerial choices because of his long record of employing former prisoners and campaigning for rehabilitation.

    The Times reported that Burnham had decided to free up the prisons brief for a Labour MP as he builds his new ministerial team. Timpson is expected to return to the family business, which is best known for key cutting, shoe repairs and other high street services.

    Confirming his departure, Timpson said it had been an honour to serve as minister for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending. He said he was leaving with the prison and probation service in a “much healthier and happier state” than when he took office two years ago.