Andy Burnham will say that Britain needs to move to “a new path” and pledge to make policies that are “unashamedly Labour” when he makes his first speech as leader of the party today.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester will be confirmed as Sir Keir Starmer’s replacement at a special conference in London.
According to a source, in his speech he will pledge to introduce policies that he believes will boost the economy, including more public control, reindustrialisation and returning power to local communities.
He will say “Britain took a series of wrong turns in the 1980s” when “political power was centralised and economic power privatised” – policies introduced by former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
The Makerfield MP will say that to build an economy and a country that works for all people and places, Britain must take “a new path to the one we’ve been on for the last 40 years”.
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politics
What Mahmood as chancellor could mean for taxes and benefits
Shabana Mahmood has unveiled sweeping changes to future settlement rights ((Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is now the frontrunner to be Andy Burnham’s chancellor, but what will her appointment mean for taxes and benefits?
Will Mahmood become chancellor?
While her appointment hasn’t been confirmed, a senior Labour source told The i Paper Mahmood had previously said she wanted to stay at the Home Office, but is “prepared to move wherever helpful” — heavily hinting at a shift to the Treasury.
Secretary of State for the Home Department Shabana Mahmood is keen to stay in post under Burnham.
(Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz)
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What will Mahmood in the Treasury mean?
1Economy: Experts say Mahmood is likely to act as a “cipher” for Burnham’s economic vision, rather than pushing her own.
2Taxes: As chancellor, Mahmood will potentially have to deliver the introduction of capital gains and wealth taxes.
3Pensions and benefits: Mahmood’s consistent willingness to tighten eligibility as Home Secretary may give a clue as to her attitude towards pensions and benefits.
4Immigration: Mahmood has driven through the toughest asylum rules in decades. Moving her could give Burnham room to soften her reforms.
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Opinion | “Starmer’s sad little spectacle reminded us how unfit he was for the top job” says Ian Dunt. “Keir Starmer’s last PMQs had a lilting, melancholic tone, a mournful background hum. It was all terribly good humoured and gentlemanly. But underneath the mannered speeches there was a sense of tragedy and waste, of a historic squandered opportunity. “This was supposed to be the man who saved the country from decline and political squalor. But he proved utterly ill-suited to the task”. You can read Ian’s full article on The i Paper’s website. #ukpolitics #starmer
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Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 16: A photo illustration of ‘Ultra Processed’ foods on February 16, 2018 in London, England. A recent study by a team at the Sorbonne in Paris has suggested that ‘Ultra Processed’ foods including things like mass-produced bread, ready meals, instant noodles, fizzy drinks, sweets and crisps are tied to the rise in cancer. (Photo illustration by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Photographer: Dan Kitwood
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2018 Getty Images
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How UPFs linked to quarter of heart disease cases and deaths
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) could be driving a quarter of heart disease cases and deaths, according to new research.
Deaths linked to UPFs
Data published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests deaths will fall if people cut their intake of UPFs.
Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 16: A photo illustration of Chicken Nuggets on February 16, 2018 in London, England. A recent study by a team at the Sorbonne in Paris has suggested that ‘Ultra Processed’ foods including things like mass-produced bread, ready meals, instant noodles, fizzy drinks, sweets and crisps are tied to the rise in cancer. (Photo illustration by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Photographer: Dan Kitwood
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2018 Getty Images
Caption: Embargoed to 2330 Tuesday July 29
File photo dated 27/04/25 of a half-pounder burger and chips in a takeaway carton. Academics have found a link between consuming high levels of ultra processed foods (UPFs) and lung cancer. An international team of researchers tracked the health and food habits of more than 100,000 US adults, with an average age of 63. After an average of 12 years the team identified 1,706 cases of lung cancer. Issue date: Tuesday July 29, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Philip Toscano/PA Wire
Photographer: Philip Toscano
Provider: Philip Toscano/PA Wire
Source: PA
In the study, experts used Canadian modelling data to look at cardiovascular disease. In the UK, 56% of calories are from UPFs, rising to 68% for teens.
What did the study find?
The findings
Analysis showed between 23- 38% of all cardiovascular disease events in 2019 were due to UPF intake.
UPFs and heart disease
This equates to 58,200-96,000 new cases of cardiovascular disease, plus 10,600-17,400 deaths.
(Photo: Getty).
The Department of Health and NHS England plan to free up more GP appointments includes expanding patient access to blood pressure checks at their pharmacy (Photo: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire)
Reducing UPFs
Reducing consumption by 20-50% may have prevented 16,800 -45,900 new cases of cardiovascular disease.
Doubts over the study
“This is a modelling study, not a clinical trial — it does not measure what actually happened to people who ate more or fewer ultra-processed foods.
Professor Alberto Fiore, from Abertay University Dundee
Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 16: A photo illustration of Spaghetti Hoops on February 16, 2018 in London, England. A recent study by a team at the Sorbonne in Paris has suggested that ‘Ultra Processed’ foods including things like mass-produced bread, ready meals, instant noodles, fizzy drinks, sweets and crisps are tied to the rise in cancer. (Photo illustration by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Photographer: Dan Kitwood
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2018 Getty Images
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Hackers jailed for £29m TfL cyber attack
Caption: Undated handout file photo originally issued on 22/06/26 by National Crime Agency of Thalha Jubair , one of two young members of a criminal hacking group who carried out a cyber attack on Transport for London (TfL) that cost the organisation millions of pounds that are facing jail. Jubair, 20, and Owen Flowers, 18, hacked TfL’s online network, resulting in a ?39 million loss, prosecutors previously said. Issue date: Wednesday July 15, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: NCA/PA Wire
NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Photographer: NCA
Provider: NCA/PA Wire
Source: PA
Copyright: PA
Two hackers who forced Transport for London to shut down its system at a cost of £29m have been sentenced to jail.
What happened?
Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall, and Thalha Jubair, 20, from east London, pleaded guilty in June to carrying out the 2024 hack which affected TfL’s services for months.
Caption: UPMINSTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 08: Tube trains are stacked at Upminster rail depot on September 08, 2025 in Upminster, England. London Underground workers have begun a strike that impacts most of the network, with limited or no services running on the Tube and DLR between Sunday and Friday. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) voted to strike after failed negotiations with Transport for London (TfL) over pay and working conditions. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Photographer: Dan Kitwood
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2025 Getty Images
Caption: Undated handout file photo originally issued on 22/06/26 by National Crime Agency of Owen Flowers, one of two young members of a criminal hacking group who carried out a cyber attack on Transport for London (TfL) that cost the organisation millions of pounds that are facing jail. Thalha Jubair, 20, and Flowers, 18, hacked TfL’s online network, resulting in a ?39 million loss, prosecutors previously said. Issue date: Wednesday July 15, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: NCA/PA Wire
NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Photographer: NCA
Provider: NCA/PA Wire
Source: PA
Copyright: PA
The two were sentenced to five years and six months in prison at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday with TfL also claiming the hack cost £10m in lost income.
The hackers
MPs and private firms have been given repeated warnings about targeted cyber attacks by Chinese state actors (Photo: Reuters).
Scattered Spider
The hackers were described as computer-obsessed loners who worked in a collective called Scattered Spider.
What they stole
The attack stole the personal data of millions of people and left 27,000 TfL employees needing to reset their passwords.
i revealed last week the UK general election could be undermined by cyber attacks and AI deep fakes emanating from hostile states (Photo: Leon Neal/Getty)
Caption: File photo dated 26/05/22 of a child using a laptop computer. More than 1.6 million social media accounts owned by children are falsely registered with an adult age, a survey by the advertising regulator suggests. Some 93% of young people aged 11 to 17 say they have an account with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter or YouTube, with a quarter (24%) misreporting their age when doing so, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found. Issue date: Tuesday November 29, 2022. PA Photo. See PA story CONSUMER Children. Photo credit should read: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Photographer: Dominic Lipinski
Provider: PA
Source: PA
Streaming their crime
The court heard the criminals streamed their 16 hour long cyber attack online.
Cyber attack timeline
Flowers was 17 and Jubair 18 when they started the hack at 5pm on 31 August, 2024.
Here’s what happened:
The attack started on a Saturday night to maximise the hackers’ chances of not being discovered by staff.
They gained access to the TfL data by tricking a phone help desk worker into reseting the password of an employee they were impersonating.
TfL was alerted to the breach by the National Crime Agency, but the criminals had already gained the details of millions of people before they were kicked out.
In total, 148 technology systems became inoperable and services including Dial-a-ride, used by disabled and vulnerable Londoners, were heavily disrupted.
news
What do Labour’s property reforms actually mean for homebuyers?
Buying a home in England could soon change significantly under Government plans to overhaul the home-buying process.
Here is everything you need to know.
What reforms are being introduced?
Last month, the Government announced proposals aimed at modernising the home-buying process in England and Wales.
Caption: A drone view shows rows of terraced houses in the constituency of Gorton and Denton ahead of a parliamentary by-election, in Manchester, Britain, February 18, 2026 REUTERS/Phil Noble TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Photographer: Phil Noble
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
The Enterprise Investment Scheme is designed to encourage investment into small, early-stage UK companies (Photo: Aitor Diago/Getty)
A central part of the reforms is the wider use of reservation agreements, under which buyers and sellers each pay a reservation fee and agree to progress the sale within a set timeframe. Ministers also want more information about a property to be available before it is listed for sale.
How will this impact the market?
Caption: File photo dated 29/07/25 of model houses on a pile of coins and bank notes. Councils risk becoming financially unsustainable unless they cut, reduce or overhaul critical services, a watchdog has said, as it warned of a near ?1 billion funding gap. The Accounts Commission said Scotland’s local authorities are facing a combined revenue gap of ?975 million across the next two years amid increasing financial pressures. Issue date: Thursday June 11, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Photographer: Joe Giddens
Provider: Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Source: PA
Higher upfront costs
Buyers would be expected to spend more on due diligence before the reservation agreement.
Fewer failed sales
Encouraging buyers and sellers to commit earlier should mean fewer sales collapse.
(Photo: Getty).
Real estate investment and loan, mortgage and refinance concept. – stock photo. (manusapon kasosod/ Getty)
Strain on first-time buyers
First-time buyers could be most exposed as they have to save for a deposit.
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Sir Olly Robbins, a former top Foreign Office civil servant, has launched a legal challenge after he was sacked following the Lord Mandelson vetting scandal. Robbins was fired from his position in April after Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper lost confidence in him, saying he had failed to tell ministers of a recommendation to deny Mandelson security vetting clearance.
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EV drivers face pay-per-mile scheme from 2028 – what we know
UK enquiries for EVs have risen sharply since the Iran conflict began. (Photo: John Walton/PA)
The Government has confirmed that a new pay-per-mile scheme for electric vehicles will be introduced in April 2028.
How does the new scheme work?
Electric car drivers will be required to pay a tax of 3p per mile.
It will be calculated through the use of driver mileage estimates and an upfront charge based on that figure.
Motorists will then submit an actual mileage reading at the end of the year and this will be backed up by a mileage reading at the car’s annual MOT.
At the end of the year, drivers will see their balance and either pay any outstanding amount or spread the cost over the following 12 months.
Expert opinion:
At such a crucial point in the switch to electric, ministers should be making the system simpler, fairer and easier to understand, not pressing ahead with a policy whose key faults remain unresolved.
Vicky Edmonds from Electric Vehicle Association England said that the move “still does not work for drivers”.
Caption: (FILES) People charge their electric cars at a Tesla electric charging station in Saint-Herblain, western France, on April 15, 2026, as US-Israel war on Iran, launched on February 28, has roiled global energy and equities markets, sending oil prices skyrocketing after Tehran virtually closed the key Strait of Hormuz. New electric car sales in France jumped 48 percent year-on-year in the first four months of the year to 148,302 units, even as the broader automotive market struggled, the automotive industry body PFA, which represents all carmakers, said on May 1, 2026. (Photo by Loic VENANCE / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: LOIC VENANCE
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Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
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Opinion | “England might not have exactly swaggered into the World Cup semi-finals but they most definitely can win it” says Mark Douglas. “After a suffocating quarter-final win – both on account of the conditions and the tension that accompanied much of their second-half display – England now meet the best team they have played in two years. “But there is nothing to fear from Argentina and clear signs that this is a team that can end that long wait for silverware”. You can read Mark’s full article on The i Paper’s website. #fifaworldcup #england #footballscominghome
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What is the Hillsborough Law and what will it change?
Andy Burnham has said the Hillsborough Law will help shift the balance of power between the people and the state.
Liverpool fans display a banner in memory of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster before a match in 2025 REUTERS/David Klein
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What is the Hillsborough Law?
The Hillsborough Law takes its name from the 1989 disaster at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield.
A banner stating ‘justice’ outside Saint George’s Hall as thousands of people gather to attend a vigil for the 96 victims of the Hillsborough tragedy (Photo: Christopher Furlong /Getty)
Andy Burnham leaves the venue of the second Hillsborough inquests in Warrington after hearing the coroner’s conclusions in April 2016 (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty)
The legislation, which cleared commons on Tuesday, aims to prevent cover-ups by requiring officials to be transparent during investigations and inquiries into failures by the state.
What is the Hillsborough Disaster?
The Government has signed the ‘Hillsborough Charter’ which promises public bodies will act with what Rishi Sunak called ‘honesty, transparency and candour’ (Photo: Paul Ellis/Getty)
What happened?
The 1989 Hillsborough disaster claimed 97 lives after a crush during the FA Cup semi-final.
Police response
Afterwards, police spread false narratives blaming Liverpool fans and withheld evidence of their own failings.
Tributes to the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster outside Liverpool’s Anfield stadium
Steve Kelly, the brother of 38-year-old Michael Kelly, and Sue Roberts, the sister of 24-year-old Graham Roberts, during the press conference (Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Inquest findings
Fresh inquests held in 2016 found the fans had been unlawfully killed and that police had caused or contributed to their deaths.
What will the law do?
1The law will create a legally-enforceable “duty of candour” for public officials to tell the truth to inquiries and investigations.
2The Hillsborough Law will also ensure victims of disasters or state-related deaths are entitled to parity of legal representation during inquests and inquiries.
3Bereaved families will get access to public funding, just as public money is used to support Government and public authority lawyers.
Burnham, who officially becomes prime minister on Monday, will describe his vision for a renewed Labour government that is focused on driving growth in every postcode.
He will also say it will be a government that will have the “courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected” and the “conviction to argue for our plans”.
Burnham will also pledge that he will be a leader “for the North and the South, for Scotland, for Wales and for Northern Ireland, and for every town and every city in every nation and region of this great country”.
Burnham will say his policies will be “unashamedly Labour in our priorities and in the decisions we take, putting people and places at the heart of everything we do”.
The speech will also touch on plans to present more practical solutions to Britain’s problems, and to work with other political parties where possible.
Burnham will say Labour must give people across Britain “the hope that we will make this country the best it can be” and argue that only a confident Labour government can “lift Britain up” by putting people and places back at the heart of national decision-making.
The incoming prime minister will say that under his leadership, Labour will become more united, focused on practical solutions rather than internal division, and more open to working with other parties on the long-term challenges facing the country.
He will also pay tribute to Sir Keir Starmer for returning Labour to government, crediting him with taking the party “from its worst electoral defeat in a century to one of the largest election victories in our history”.
Burnham will praise the achievements of the Labour Government, including stronger workers’ rights, improvements to the NHS, investment in public services and the passing of the Hillsborough Law.