Andy Burnham to ditch Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial digital ID plans
Andy Burnham will signal a major break with the Keir Starmer government by ditching controversial £2bn plans to introduce digital ID, Political Editor David Maddox writes.
The policy had been strongly opposed by many Labour MPs who saw it as a waste of money, as well as an assault on individual liberty and an echo of what Tony Blair and Gordon Brown attempted to introduce previously.
Sir Keir, who claimed it was essential for preventing illegal working, had already had to U-turn on plans to make it compulsory because of internal opposition and now the scheme is set to be scrapped altogether.
The move comes as Mr Burnham is expected to ruthlessly overhaul many of the problems which left Sir Keir’s government under siege.
Sources have also said he plans to scrap the reforms to water down the right to a jury trial, and restore rebel MP Karl Turner to the parliamentary party after he was suspended for opposing the proposal.
Holly Bancroft18 July 2026 21:34
Rishi Sunak’s advice for incoming PM Andy Burnham
Rishi Sunak has stressed the importance of appointing the “most able” ministers to the jobs that most mattered to a prime minister’s priorities.
The former prime minister offered advice to Andy Burnham ahead of the start of his premiership on Monday.
While attention has focused on whether Ed Miliband or Shabana Mahmood will be chancellor, the former prime minister said it was the choice of foreign secretary that would be the most important.
He wrote in The Sunday Times: “Burnham wants to spend less time on international affairs than his predecessor did, but this will begin to be possible only if he has a foreign secretary who is sufficiently well known and respected on the global stage to stand in for him.”
But he suggested that this would only go so far, urging Mr Burnham to secure one-on-one meetings with other world leaders given “the extent to which personal relationships influence international diplomacy”.
Bryony Gooch18 July 2026 21:00
Inside Burnham’s roundabout route to No 10, according to his allies
Hearing from allies of incoming prime minister Andy Burnham, Dan Haygarth tracks the year that saw the mayor of Greater Manchester set his sights on Number 10.
Bryony Gooch18 July 2026 20:00
Watch: How much do the public really know about their new PM Andy Burnham?How much do the public really know about their new PM Andy Burnham?
Bryony Gooch18 July 2026 19:00
Burnham plots Foreign Office shake up
Andy Burnham could put energy secretary Ed Miliband into the Foreign Office in a major shake-up, which is expected to include a roadmap to return the UK to spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on international aid, Labour sources have told David Maddox.
There is now a growing belief that Mr Miliband will be made foreign secretary, with explicit permission to prioritise tackling climate goals through the department, The Independent’s Political Editor hears.
Read the full story here:
Holly Bancroft18 July 2026 18:28
Analysis: Why Farage going ‘full conspiracy theory’ is not impressing voters in Clacton
Political editor David Maddox has been handed a letter Nigel Farage sent to voters in Clacton explaining why he called a by-election – one constituent called it ‘a self-pitying diatribe’.
Bryony Gooch18 July 2026 18:00
Boris Johnson’s and Rishi Sunak’s advice for incoming PM Andy Burnham
As Andy Burnham prepares to become prime minister on Monday, his Conservative predecessors have lined up to give him their advice on succeeding in the job.
While Sir Keir Starmer has said he will not give his successor advice in public, other recent occupants of No 10 have been more forthcoming, stressing the pressures of time Mr Burnham will face.
Writing in The Sunday Times, Rishi Sunak urged Mr Burnham to “soak up every second” of his arrival in Downing Street, saying he regretted not allowing himself “a moment of reflection”.
But once inside, he added, it was “imperative” for a prime minister to “have a plan” for using their time most effectively, regularly engaging with MPs and driving “two or three” key priorities from No 10.
Amid speculation about Mr Burnham’s Cabinet picks, Mr Sunak also stressed the importance of appointing the “most able” ministers to the jobs that most mattered to a prime minister’s priorities.
Another of Mr Burnham’s predecessors, Boris Johnson, also offered the incoming prime minister some advice in an interview with Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.
Mr Johnson said he wished Mr Burnham “well”, but like Mr Sunak said he “hasn’t got much time” with a public “doomscrolling through prime ministers”.
You can read more about what he had to say below:
Nicole Wootton-Cane18 July 2026 17:16
Badenoch vows to give Burnham ‘a rude awakening’
The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports:
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservatives has told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that she will “score as many points as possible” against Andy Burnham if it is the “right thing for the country”.
In an interview to be broadcast tomorrow, Ms Badenoch warned the incoming prime minister might face a “rude awakening” in office, branding him a “people pleaser”, saying that she would not give him a “blank cheque”.
It came after he promised to end the points scoring culture in British politics in his acceptance speech when officially becoming Labour leader on Friday. He claimed that it turned the British people off politics.
But Ms Badenoch said his plans so far seemed ‘airy fairy’ and that he had run away from taking tough decisions.
“I will score as many points as possible if it means the right thing for the country. What I’m not going to do is give Andy Burnham a blank cheque.”
With Mr Burnham ducking appearing on the show himself and sending deputy leader Lucy Powell, Ms Badenoch said: “This is a man who doesn’t want scrutiny, he doesn’t want anyone asking him tough questions, he just wants to be a people pleaser.
“What the country needs right now is someone who can take tough decisions, who can face down the Labour MPs that don’t want to do anything difficult. And that is what worries me.”
She added: “I’ve met Andy Burnham before, actually just before I think I was on your show in Manchester at party conference. I like him, he’s a nice guy, but he’s the people pleaser. The job is not a popularity contest. It is making the lives of all of the people outside this building better. And he has not said what he’s going to do. It’s all airy-fairy stuff.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also said incoming PM Andy Burnham should open up the North Sea for oil and gas if he ‘has any common sense’ (Michal Wachucik/PA)
Nicole Wootton-Cane18 July 2026 16:27
Burnham set to cut energy bills as he enters Downing Street
Andy Burnham plans to cut energy bills through radical plans as rumours swirl around his Cabinet members.
The new Labour leader promised to reduce the price of “essentials” in his momentous speech on Friday, and is set to announce a cost of living package as one of his first announcements when he moves into 10 Downing Street.
Mr Burnham’s team are reportedly looking to make running a heat pump cheaper than a gas boiler, according to The Guardian.
Other media outlets have reported plans to cut VAT from energy bills, and even plans for more North Sea drilling.
Bryony Gooch18 July 2026 16:00
MP tipped for ministerial role urges more action on crypto political donations
David Maddox, political editor, reports:
Joe Powell, a Labour MP tipped for a ministerial role, is pushing for the UK to tackle money laundering in London harder as a means of boosting international aid and preventing democracies being undermined by underhand money such as crypto currency donations.
In the wake of Sir Keir Starmer’s government put a temporary ban on crypto donations after Nigel Farage’s Reform UK started accepting them, he wants Andy Burnham’s government to go further and create an international alliance against crypto donations.
Mr Powell has been tipped as a potential anti corruption minister in Mr Burnham’s team.In a piece for the influential New Economic Forum, he warned: “There is surely no reason why political donations using cryptocurrency should be permitted, given the inherent difficulties in establishing the source of funds and making donor checks. The government has announced a moratorium on crypto donations in Britain, and it would be healthy for global democracy to build a coalition of countries to do the same.”
He wants a focus on the “opaque” London property market as part of an international effort to tackle the problem.
“Major cities in many G20 countries are grappling with a common challenge. In my constituency of Kensington and Bayswater in London, 40 per cent of the foreign-owned property is held in anonymous trusts: approximately 4,000 properties with hidden ownership, despite the introduction, after the invasion of Ukraine, of a register of overseas-owned properties. This major loophole incentivises more opaque ownership structures, which are only thrown open through leaks and investigations like the Panama and Paradise Papers.”
Bryony Gooch18 July 2026 15:46