Watch: Burnham has the right ‘vision, ideas and priorities’, says StreetingBurnham has the right ‘vision, ideas and priorities’, says Streeting

Bryony Gooch22 June 2026 22:00

Trump repeats claims Starmer ‘is no Churchill’

Donald Trump has repeated claims that Sir Keir Starmer was no Winston Churchill as he criticised the British prime minister.

“This was not Winston Churchill,” he said in reference to Sir Keir Starmer’s reticence to support the US conflict in Iran.

“Starmer wasn’t there, and you know what? The people of the UK did not like it that he wasn’t there. Starmer said no. Starmer said worse than no. He said we’ll be there as soon as you win.”

Bryony Gooch22 June 2026 21:35

Starmer’s wife thanks Downing Street staff at drinks

Lady Starmer thanked Downing Street staff at drinks in the No 10 garden on Monday evening, telling them she was “personally really grateful” for their support.

Sir Keir Starmer’s wife Victoria said: “I just wanted to say thank you from me.

“I obviously love Keir and support him as much as I can, but there’s only so much I could do, and it’s you guys who gave that support day in, day out, and I am personally really grateful for that. So, thank you all.”

Bryony Gooch22 June 2026 21:30

Trump criticises Starmer’s record on energy as he exits role as prime minister

US president Donald Trump has criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s record over energy as he steps down as Labour party leader and highlights timeline to exit role as prime minister.

“I think he’s a lovely man, but I said ‘you’re really messing up energy. You have windmills all over the place. In the meantime, you have the North Sea oil, and they won’t let anybody drill to one of the great fields in the world,’” he said.

He went so far as to call Sir Keir “sort of a friend of mine,” but caveated “he was not good to us with NATO.”

“I wish him well, but he’s got two problems: energy and immigration and crime, but energy and immigration, you know he’s really hurt himself very badly.”

Bryony Gooch22 June 2026 21:28

The hospital scandal that could come back to haunt Andy BurnhamThe hospital scandal that could come back to haunt Andy Burnham

The man who could step into No 10 prides himself on giving a voice to the voiceless. However, this wasn’t the experience of Deb Hazeldine who campaigned for years to get a public inquiry into one of the NHS’s biggest care scandals that happened on his watch. Rebecca Thomas reports

Bryony Gooch22 June 2026 21:00

Harriet Harman suggests Ed Miliband could be chancellor, if Burnham enters No10

Member of the House of Lords, Harriet Harman, suggested Ed Miliband could become the next chancellor if Andy Burnham became Prime Minister.

Speaking to Sky News’ Cathy Newman she said: “Well, I don’t think it couldn’t be Ed Miliband actually.”

“I’m going to support whoever happens to be the chancellor.

“And it shouldn’t, you know, we should not be ruling out Ed Miliband.

“I think he’s a great talent, he’s very economically literate, he’s very intelligent and very committed and very experienced.”

Rebecca Whittaker22 June 2026 20:44

Watch: How many prime ministers has Larry the cat seen?How many prime ministers has Larry the cat seen?

Rebecca Whittaker22 June 2026 20:30

In pictures: Burnham swearing in from House of Commons(Reuters)(PA)

Bryony Gooch22 June 2026 20:00

Why was Andy Burnham late to swear in as MP?

Andy Burnham’s train from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston was 20 minutes late because of a points failure.

Mr Burnham got an Avanti West Coast service to London on Monday and was later sworn in as the Labour MP for Makerfield following last week’s by-election.

The train service arrived at 1.30pm and was about 20 minutes late.

The train was late because of a points failure between Stockport and Stoke-on-Trent, Network Rail said.

Disruption following the points failure was expected until 4.30pm on Monday, National Rail’s website says.

Points are devices that let trains move from one track to another at junctions, according to Network Rail’s website.

Points can fail – they could get clogged with debris or ice, the drive mechanism might fail or, in hot weather, they might expand too much, the website says.

Mr Burnham has previously been critical of the service between London and Manchester.

Bryony Gooch22 June 2026 19:30

Badenoch rejects Lammy’s statement of gratitude for Starmer’s foreign affairs approach

Kemi Badenoch has rejected deputy prime minister David Lammy’s statement that MPs owe “a debt of gratitude to the prime minister on foreign affairs”.

Responding to Mr Lammy, the Conservative leader told the Commons: “He is right when he says everyone in this House owes a debt to the prime minister, but it is most certainly not a debt of gratitude – it’s the other type of debt that we owe.”

Mrs Badenoch went on to ask why prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, who travelled to the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, was not at the despatch box to face questions about his visit, instead sending his deputy.

She said: “Where is the prime minister? He says he needs to stay in post for three months, but then doesn’t come to Parliament to do his job.

“He wants to go on a farewell tour while the new member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham) is asking for a summer holiday to work out what he thinks. In the meantime, no-one is in charge and Britain is not being governed.”

Mrs Badenoch added that “this psychodrama is about the Labour Party, not the country”. She said Labour MPs in the chamber on Monday afternoon “will all scurry back to their offices and focus on their real priority – lobbying for jobs in the next government”.

Bryony Gooch22 June 2026 19:00