The annual Brexiteer outrage over EU flags supposedly “hijacking” the Last Night of the Proms didn’t disappoint.

Thank EU for the Music returned to the Royal Albert Hall on September 12, handing out around 5,000 EU flags to concertgoers. The group has been distributing free flags at the Proms every year since 2016 and handed out an estimated 50,000 in Liverpool in the run-up to Eurovision in 2022.

Naturally, GB News was not impressed.

The right-wing broadcaster reported that crowds had “succumbed to a pro-Brussels love-in,” claiming EU flags appeared to outnumber Union Jacks during performances of Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory and other Proms favourites.

But in its eagerness to mock the campaign, GB News managed to give Thank EU for the Music some valuable free publicity.

The article helpfully explained that the group describes itself as a “pro-European group of musicians and music lovers campaigning peacefully for music without borders.”

It told readers that concertgoers were being encouraged to wave the flags in solidarity with musicians affected by post-Brexit touring barriers.

And it went further, outlining the group’s calls for Labour to secure easier EU touring for British artists, improve access to work permits and reduce restrictions around customs, transport, tax and social security.

It even quoted the campaigners arguing that the government’s own evidence shows reducing these barriers would bring economic and cultural benefits to both the UK and EU.

Quite the campaign advert and an argument, it seems, that is becoming increasingly difficult for Brexit supporters to dismiss.

Brexit has created huge barriers for British musicians wanting to work in Europe.

A 2024 Musicians’ Union survey found 75 percent of respondents who had previously worked in the EU said their bookings had declined. 59 percent said touring the EU was no longer financially viable, while 72 percent said their income from EU work had fallen.

And the evidence is no longer coming solely from musicians’ organisations.

Recent government research into the economic impact of Brexit on touring found that UK performances in EU countries in 2024 remained 21 percent below 2019 levels. It estimated that the reduction in UK touring associated with EU exit resulted in £208 million less gross value added and 2,490 fewer full-time equivalent jobs between 2022 and 2024 across the touring sectors covered by the research.

Smaller-scale touring has been particularly affected, with additional immigration, customs, transport, taxation and social security requirements increasing costs and complexity.

In other words, those 5,000 EU flags are not simply a political stunt. For many musicians, Brexit has made it harder and more expensive to do their jobs.

Speaking exclusively to Left Foot Forward, a Thank EU for the Music spokesperson said:

“We thank GB news for highlighting our campaign and we appreciate that they are interested in improving the careers and livelihoods of musicians all-round the country. The best way to support them is by restoring  free movement for musicians

 “As a musician we know our new prime minister will also be keen to help.  

“Andy, we urge you to act on official government research at the forthcoming EU-UK summit and support the UK music industry by negotiating a bespoke cultural touring arrangement or restoring freedom of movement for musicians.”

There is, of course, another response from the right to the sight of EU flags at the Proms: to turn the issue into a culture-war complaint about “lefties”.

Telegraph columnist Tim Stanley went even further, claiming people will vote Reform because “lefties are so incredibly irritating”.

“EU flag-wavers at the Proms embody the bourgeois disdain for Britain that is driving support for Farage,” he writes.

It’s quite a leap from musicians asking for fewer bureaucratic barriers to earning a living to claims about “bourgeois disdain for Britain.” It completely misses the issue at the heart of the campaign: the impact of post-Brexit restrictions on musicians’ livelihoods.

Yet the Brexit culture war continues to reduce the issue to flags.

But the more the right-wing media focuses on the flags, the more it risks drawing attention to the reason they are being waved in the first place.

Thank EU for the Music was founded in 2016 in response to the Brexit vote and campaigns for a borderless music industry. It has continued to call for fewer barriers to European touring and for freedom of movement for musicians.

The group has welcomed the government’s recent research into the impact of Brexit on touring, arguing that the evidence backs up what musicians have been saying for years.

Its campaign is particularly relevant to young and emerging artists, who are less likely to have the money, administrative support or established networks needed to navigate the additional costs and bureaucracy.

The issue, then, is rather bigger than whether someone happens to wave an EU flag at the Proms.

For musicians trying to build careers across Europe, it’s about whether Brexit has made their work more difficult, expensive and bureaucratic — and whether the government is prepared to do something about it.

Thank EU for the Music says it will continue campaigning until it achieves “music without borders”.

And, thanks to GB News and the Telegraph, a few more people now know exactly what it is campaigning for.

Image credit: Bruce Tanner (Last Night of BBC Proms Royal Albert Hall Musicians need Freedom of Movement)

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This year’s TUC Congress in Brighton has a very different feel to the event last year. There’s a sense of optimism about the government that was distinctly absent 12 months ago.

Speaking to delegates and trade union general secretaries, it’s clear that the movement feels there is a much better prospect of Andy Burnham delivering a political programme in their members’ interests than there was of Keir Starmer doing so.

Dave Ward – general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) – is among those who has hope that the government can deliver. In an interview with Left Foot Forward at TUC Congress, he called Burnham “the best chance for working people, for Labour”.

Despite this hopeful tone, Ward argued that it is also “the last chance”, and that he wants to “make clear that if we want to bring about change then the government has to do certain things that take on vested interests”. He continued by arguing that the government needed to “rebalance economic power [and] wealth back in favour of working class people and create growth that workers benefit from”.

What does this look like in practice? Ward told LFF: “You don’t rebalance the economy if you don’t put money in the pockets of people that then spend that money on growing the economy.

“And at the moment, we got it wrong. We’ve had decades where – by any measure – wealth inequality has grown. People are getting richer who don’t put a day’s work in, and the people that are suffering is the millions and millions.”

Ward then added: “We have to fundamentally shift the balance of forces in the world of work because the same people that are benefiting from that, they benefited from decline.”

In order to deliver this, Ward is arguing for the trade union movement to “reignite” its campaign for a “new deal for workers”. He told LFF this should “focus onbringing in sectoral collective bargaining, focus on ending bogus self-employment – bringing legislation forward that deals with the senior status of worker and actually makes a big difference in workplaces up and down the UK”.

Ward also told LFF that the government needed to look at the tax system. He said: “There has to be a change in tax. There has to be – whatever system you want to use – there’s got to be a fairer tax system that the ultra rich, the people that have benefited from the last 30 or 40 years have to now pay their fair share”.

While Ward is calling for the government to make radical changes, he’s pragmatic about the timescale of delivering on this. He told LFF that he wants to see the trade union movement “playing its part” in delivering the change he wants to see, but doesn’t want to see it “getting into a debate where we become cynical if Burnham doesn’t do the change in about six weeks”.

Still, he acknowledges the scale of the challenge Burnham faces. “I think if he doesn’t get it right,
Labour are out of power for a long, long time”, Ward told LFF, warning it would be Reform that would replace them.

Like many in the trade union movement, Ward is deeply worried about the impact Reform would have on workers. He told LFF: “Reform’s agenda is to maintain the wealth that’s there at the moment and to do it by stoking division. We can’t have that and we can’t have Nigel Farage being the voice of working class people.”

Ward believes that the trade union movement can play an important role in combatting Reform and the far-right. He told LFF that trade unions should “just be honest with people, get out there, talk to your members, not have a go at them if they’ve got concerns around things like immigration. There does need to be some controlled immigration in the UK. But it’s got to be fair. It’s got to be fair to the workers. It’s got to be fair to immigrants. At the moment we need to be leading that debate.”

He went on to add: “One thing that always strikes me about workers I’ve worked in the industry for years […] I’ll tell you now what brings them together is when you convince them that there’s an issue that’s worth fighting for, they don’t look around the workplace and go well this person don’t live in the UK or this person weren’t born there”.

Alongside this, Ward said that he had “faith in Burnham” to deliver for Labour and prevent a Reform government, and that “he’s the right politician for these times”.

Why? Ward said that Burnham’s analysis is “correct”, arguing that he his right to criticise the record of previous Labour governments as well as Tory ones.

Ward told LFF: “He’s the first Labour politician who’s had the courage to actually say that Labour got it wrong as well – and let’s be honest, Labour did get it wrong”. He acknowledged that Labour in power “did some good things”, but argued that “too many Labour governments” didn’t take on “vested interests”.

Ward continued: “If you don’t change the balance of power back to working class people, if you don’t create wealth for working class people, how do you deliver change? And I think these ideas that Andy’s setting out are the right ideas.”

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward

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Andy Burnham appears to have received something of a popularity boost this week, for refusing to give interviews to the Sun.

And given the newspaper’s history with Liverpool, Hillsborough and the Labour movement, it’s not surprising that Burnham’s reported decision has been greeted with enthusiasm, particularly in Merseyside.

It also comes as the government’s communications director, former Sun editor David Dinsmore, is preparing to leave his Whitehall post after just over a year.

As first reported by the Observer, Burnham has refused to be interviewed by the Murdoch-owned tabloid, placing him in the company of just one other Labour prime minister who deliberately refused to cooperate with the paper, Jim Callaghan, half a century ago.

Callaghan’s relationship with the Sun became particularly notorious during the 1979 general election campaign, when the paper famously turned his remarks at a hastily convened airport press conference into the headline ‘Crisis? What Crisis?’

What Callaghan had actually said was: “I don’t think other people in the world will share the view that there is mounting chaos.”

Burnham’s reasons for keeping the Sun at arm’s length go back to one of the darkest episodes in recent British political and media history. Hillsborough.

In late August, it was reported that Dinsmore is to step down as the government’s communications director on September 30, after just over a year in the role.

Dinsmore was appointed by then prime minister Keir Starmer in July 2025 with a brief to overhaul communications across Whitehall. Before entering government, he had edited the Sun between 2013 and 2015 and subsequently became chief operating officer at News UK.

His appointment to such a senior government position was controversial among some Labour figures, particularly in Liverpool, where the Sun remains widely boycotted because of its coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, who is a close friend of Burnham’s, described Dinsmore’s appointment as “insensitive” and said he “shouldn’t be anywhere near a senior government role.”  He said the appointment “sent shivers down my spine.”

Dinsmore’s departure has reportedly been agreed by “mutual agreement.” While there is no evidence that Burnham’s reported refusal to cooperate with the Sun played any role in Dinsmore’s exit, the two stories nevertheless expose an uncomfortable tension between the current government and the newspaper.

The Sun’s relationship with Liverpool has, of course, never recovered from its coverage of Hillsborough.

Its infamous front page headlined “The Truth,” falsely accused Liverpool supporters of urinating on police, stealing from the dead and attacking officers as the disaster unfolded at Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium in 1989, when 97 people died.

The claims were false and subsequent investigations and inquests exposed the extent of the failures by the police and other authorities, while Hillsborough families spent decades fighting for the truth to be recognised.

The Sun has apologised repeatedly for its coverage. But in Liverpool, those apologies have done little to repair the damage.

For Burnham, Hillsborough has become a defining part of his political career.

As a minister in Gordon Brown’s government, he helped drive the creation of the independent Hillsborough Independent Panel in 2009. He has since remained a prominent campaigner for Hillsborough justice and a champion of the Hillsborough Law.

As a member of Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet, Burnham was among the Merseyside MPs who criticised Miliband for posing for a publicity photograph holding a copy of the newspaper.

When Burnham entered the contest to replace Miliband as Labour leader in 2015, he made clear that he had not forgiven the Sun for its Hillsborough coverage. He also said he would not give the newspaper interviews if he became leader.

So perhaps it’s unsurprising that his latest reported decision has been welcomed by people who do not necessarily agree with Burnham on everything else.

“Good on him. Morals, scruples. 1989 changed mine and many others lives. The victim’s families, LFC, Kenny, Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham actually did things to expose the cover up,” one person commented.

“Good for Andy. Nobody should be reading that muck spreader,” said another.

“Haven’t made my final opinion on him yet but agree with you here. Well done, @andyburnham,” another wrote.

And another summed up the enduring sense of betrayal felt by many Liverpool supporters: “He played his part in helping the families getting justice and no doubt, like nearly all Liverpudlians and others like me around the country will never forget or forgive what this scummy rag published in April 1989 so fair play to him.”

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The Prime Minister has ruled out cutting the welfare budget to pay for an increase in defence spending, telling Parliament that there shouldn’t be a trade off between national security and social security.

Andy Burnham made the comments during a fiery clash with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister’s Questions, after she asked whether the Labour government would be spending 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) on the military by 2030, on its way to achieving the Nato target of spending 3.5% by 2035.

Badenoch told MPs unashamedly that a Conservative government would find the extra cash by cutting housing benefit.

However, Burnham told her “that would create levels of homelessness in this country that we wouldn’t have seen before – hundreds of thousands of children in temporary accommodation”.

He added: “We do everything to support national security, but it can’t come at the expense of social security.

“Having strong national security also depends upon having resilience in our communities.

“This side of the house will not be forced to choose between the two, and we will set out a plan to get to 3.5% by 2035 at the spending review.”

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The public wants the government to take stronger action on climate change following this summer’s heatwaves, wildfires and record temperatures, a new poll has revealed.

The More in Common polling, commissioned by investigative climate NGO Global Witness, revealed high levels of concern about the impact of the extreme heat on public services, including schools and the NHS. 

Three quarters (75%) of those surveyed were concerned about how extreme heat impacts the NHS’ ability to treat patients, while 63% were worried about its impact on schools’ ability to teach pupils. 

In addition, 75% of people supported the installation of solar-powered air conditioning in schools and hospitals.

An overwhelming majority (69%) of people backed a new legal maximum indoor working temperature of 30°c. 

Global Witness says NHS doctors have told the NGO that hospital temperatures became so high during this summer’s heatwaves that MRI scanners and CT machines cut out, with waiting times and patient flow affected. 

Teachers told Global Witness that staff and students fell sick during the extreme heat this summer and reported a lack of clear guidance on school closures or maximum working temperatures.

Global Witness provided some schools with thermometers to measure their classroom temperatures during the heatwave in mid-June.

Several teachers reported temperatures between 30 and 38 degrees – well above the recommended maximum classroom temperature of 26°C set by the National Education Union.

To mitigate the impact of climate change, Global Witness is calling on Andy Burnham to fairly tax the oil and gas industry, which has raked in big windfalls from the Iran war this year, after making bumper profits following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Global Witness senior campaigner, Flossie Boyd, said: “It’s scandalous that as people’s lives were put at risk this summer, the oil giants turbo-charging extreme heat were raking in sky-high profits, pushing for more dirty drilling and lower taxes.

“The climate crisis is here, and bold action is needed to keep people safe. If Burnham wants to stand up for families and working people, he should stand up to oil giants, tax them fairly and use the proceeds to fund the climate preparedness Britain desperately needs – like solar-powered AC to protect the most vulnerable.”

Image credit: Neil Thomas

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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The Labour Party has grown its poll lead over Reform the latest opinion poll shows, as Andy Burnham continue the fightback against Nigel Farage.

The poll, carried out by Opinium for the Observer, puts Labour on 28%, up one point, while Reform are on 24%, down one point. The Conservatives meanwhile are on 18% also down by one point, while the Greens are on 11%.

It may well be a lot worse for Reform since the polling was conducted, given that much of the fieldwork was carried out before the undercover Channel 4 investigation into Reform was reported, which showed Farage and senior party figures discussing ways to get around electroal law on donations.

Meanwhile, Burnham’s pledge to tackle the cost of living crisis as well as his vow to bring essential utilities such as water and energy under public control has gone down well with the public.

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In a marked departure from his predecessor, Prime Minister Andy Burnham plans to refuse interviews and article requests from the right-wing Sun Newspaper, because of the way it covered the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

The Observer reports that three seperate sources close to Burnham have told the paper that he ‘intends to maintain a stance of granting the tabloid “no special favours’.

The paper goes on to report: “His position is understood to be causing “consternation” within the headquarters of the newspaper’s owner, Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, where executives have long since been used to the Sun getting access and securing influence at the very highest level of government.”

That means Burnham will become become the first Prime Minister in 50 years to refuse ‘full cooperation’ with The Sun, following in the footsteps of James Callaghan.

When the Sun covered the Hillsborough disaster it ran a front page story headlined “The Truth”, which falsely blamed Liverpool football fans for a crowd crush that caused the deaths of 97 people, which is now recognised as having been part of a concerted cover-up of policing failures. Ever since, the newspaper is still widely boycotted in the city.

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Andy Burnham has been warned that his government has “missed opportunities” to reform British democracy by failing to introduce a donations cap or changes to the voting system in its elections bill.

The Representation of the People Bill passed its third reading yesterday, but key amendments from backbenchers on voting reform and a donations cap were not heard.

Campaign group Unlock Democracy has branded the government’s failure to act on electoral reform and barriers to overseas voting “major missed opportunities”. 

Alex Sobel MP’s amendment, which called for a national commission to review alternatives to first-past-the-post for UK elections, was ruled out of scope by the Commons speaker.

This is despite widespread support for the amendment, which 185 MPs signed.

Democracy minister Florence Eshalomi responded to the amendment saying: “The government’s priority is a politics that works for all people in all places, not some people in some places. The Prime Minister remains committed to electoral reform as a way of supporting that objective.

“However, we must be honest, this is a complex constitutional matter and it is premature to legislate now for one approach. I would be very happy to meet with many Members from across the House to hear their views, and look at how we can work on a strong proposal and discuss the next steps.”

Tom Brake called the decision to rule the amendment out of scope “palpably absurd and an embarrassment”.

Brake said: “The Prime Minister says he wants to build cross-party consensus on changing the voting system before the next election. An independent commission is the best way to do that. It would put reform above the immediate interests of any one party and help build support for a lasting settlement.”

Labour MP Stella Creasy tabled two amendments on introducing a donations cap, neither of which were considered or voted on during the bill’s third reading yesterday.

One of her proposals, which was signed by more than 60 MPs, called for an immediate £500,000 limit which would reduce to £100,000 in the second calendar year.

The other called for a £100,000 cap on donations and was sponsored by 45 MPs.

On the government’s commitment to tackle “mega donors” in UK politics, Brake welcomed the fact that Angela Rayner and Louise Haigh have asked the Electoral Commission to review political spending limits.

Democracy Minister Florence Eshalomi announced a cross-government taskforce to tackle the issue of “UK-based mega-donors” during yesterday’s elections bill debate.

However, Brake added that “the Ministers’ statement from the despatch box leaves important questions unanswered. We know nothing about its membership, the options it will consider or when it is expected to report. A promise to act “as soon as possible” offers no guarantee that reforms will be in place before the next general election.

“These reviews must deliver real reform, not provide an excuse for putting off difficult decisions. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating – and whether the government is prepared to restrict the influence of big money in our politics.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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The Labour Party has gained support in the latest poll of voting intention, while Reform continues to struggle.

The poll, carried out by YouGov on behalf of Sky, found that Labour had gained a point to go onto 23 points, while Reform remained unchanged on 23 points. Meanwhile, the Tories are on 20 points, while the Greens are on 13 points.

It comes after Andy Burnham made his first appearance in Parliament before MPs after becoming Prime Minister.

Burnham vowed to once more bring energy and water under public control during his address to MPs as he slammed over 40 years of political centralisation and economic privatisation.

The former Mayor of Greater Manchester has seen his approval ratings improve after taking over, pledging radical action on the cost of living, while Farage continues to struggle after facing a standards investigation into his financial affairs. 

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Prime Minister Andy Burnham schooled Reform’s Richard Tice in the Commons yesterday with some simple facts, after Nigel Farage’s deputy attacked renewable energy.

Burnham made his first appearance before MPs in the Commons yesterday since becoming Prime Minister after the summer recess where he answered questions and set out his vision for the country.

Tice stood up and claimed that the increase in energy prices was because of the ‘rush towards net stupid zero’ and due to the ‘multiple increase in renewables such as solar farms’. He called for more drilling in the North Sea and asked Burnham when he would approve licences at Rosebank and Jackdaw.

Burnham replied: “I don’t know if the honourable gentleman was listening a moment ago when I was talking about how renewables can bring down the cost of living, and I gave a very clear example in Greater Manchester it cost £30 to charge a bus with electric charge, £200 plus to fill a tank of diesel, he really does need to look into the facts a little bit more before he makes statements like that in this house.”

The Prime Minister said that he accepted the need for the use of oil and gas in years to come but that we shouldn’t think it’s one or the other between oil and gas and renewables just for the sake of political purposes.

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Prime Minister Andy Burnham took apart 40 years of neoliberal failure in his first speech in the Commons as PM after Parliament returned from the summer recess.

Burnham condemned the manner in which political power had been centralised and economic power privatised, as he pledged once more to set out plans for stronger ‘public control’ of essential services.

He told Parliament that “Britain is not where we would wish it to be”, but promised to “build a new sense of optimism around the country”.

Following his 10 years away from Parliament, Burnham said he was returning with a “clear diagnosis” of what had gone wrong in the country.

He said: “From the 1980s, this country took a series of wrong turns.

“Political power was centralised, economic power privatised, the country deindustrialised, austerity followed, hollowing out councils and depriving them of the agency to act to reverse any of this.

“And then Brexit compounded the damage, ushering in a decade of low growth and stalled regeneration.”

He went on to add: “For 40 years too many places have been drifting, too many British high streets tell the story of this decline, people yearn to see them restored to what they once were as the communities secretary and I heard on our visit to Ilkeston in the summer.”

“They see no hope if we continue on the same path. With a failed economic model which does not trickle down much to places like theirs and instead allows wealth to be extracted and siphoned out. Britain’s water industry stands as a leaking monument to that approach, a country run in the private rather than the public interest.” 

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Simon Galbraith, a tech entrepreneur and investor based in Cambridge, has donated £500,000 to Rupert Lowe’s party Restore Britain.

In a post on X yesterday, Lowe said he was “delighted” to announce that Galbraith had donated two sums of £250,000 through his investment company Cade Hill, one in April and another in August.

In a statement, Galbraith said he had donated the money because: “I believe that most British people sense Britain’s decline.

“There is a centralised, bloated and incompetent state which is increasingly undemocratic, British institutions are unfocused on what they should be for, and our democracy doesn’t represent the interests and opinions of many.

“I love my country. I’ve built my businesses here, raised my family here and made my life here.”

He added: “Financially it would make a great deal of sense for me to leave, as many people with my wealth have chosen to do, but I don’t want to. I want to live in Britain, and feel a responsibility to contribute to fixing it.”

Andy Burnham is facing mounting pressure to place a cap on donations to political parties as the elections bill returns to Parliament today. 

Labour MP Stella Creasy has tabled an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill to introduce a cap on donations.

The amendment, called New Clause 120, would introduce an immediate cap on political donations set at £500,000, reducing to £100,000 in the second year, and requiring the Government to set a permanent donations cap thereafter. 

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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Concerned by what they saw as Andy Burnham’s radio silence on the climate crisis, last month, 50 climate groups – including Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, WWF and Green New Deal Rising – felt compelled to write a letter to the prime minister calling on him to “break his silence”. They wanted Burnham to make clear that the cause of the five recent heatwaves, and the droughts and wildfires that followed was the climate crisis. 

They pointed out that as mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham had made “powerful statements” about the climate crisis, including backing the fossil fuel treaty – a proposed international pact on phasing out coal, oil and gas. 

Yet, since becoming prime minister, Burnham’s relative silence on climate change, alongside hints that he is considering approving new oil and gas fields at Rosebank and Jackdaw, have caused major concern among environmentalists. 

Danny Gross, a campaigner at Friends of the Earth, tells Left Foot Forward: “Andy Burnham has not been vocal enough on the climate crisis.”

He said it was good that Burnham had “finally” convened a Cobra (Cabinet Office Briefing Room) meeting on the extreme heat on 13 August, and that he banned disposable barbeques. However, he added “that’s absolutely not enough”. 

“What was disappointing for us and lots of other people was that it took Burnham so long to even talk about the climate crisis or even link the extreme weather we’re having to the climate crisis,” he said. 

Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields

Gross describes speculation that Burnham is considering approving new oil extraction at Rosebank and gas extraction at Jackdaw as “really worrying”.

To tackle the climate crisis, Gross says the government needs to create measures to adapt to the changing weather, alongside “strong action to cut our emissions as much as possible, which means saying no to climate-wrecking projects like Rosebank and Jackdaw”.

He said the decision is “a big test for the government” and if they are approved “it would seem like a white flag in a way”.

“It will send a very negative signal about their commitment to tackling the climate crisis and transitioning away from fossil fuels, which is a root cause of our cost of living crisis,” Gross says.

However, if the government decides to approve Rosebank and Jackdaw, Gross makes clear that “lots of campaign groups will be looking at the legality of the decision” and will continue to campaign against new fossil fuel projects. 

‘Adapting’ to the climate crisis

After a destructive summer of heatwaves, wildfires and droughts, the Met Office has warned that an “unprecedented” El Niño event, which is when eastern Pacific temperatures rise 0.5°C above the long-term average, is likely to bring storms to the UK and North West Europe this autumn.

In response, Friends of the Earth is urging Burnham to enact “much more comprehensive measures” to adapt to the climate crisis, including retrofitting buildings and creating robust plans to combat flooding. 

In fact, the climate charity is taking the government to court over its “dangerously inadequate” national adaptation plan, which it says fails to protect the public from extreme weather such as heatwaves and floods. 

Gross says: “A big part of climate adaptation is about managing flood risk. There has been underinvestment in this area and it’s a big responsibility for the government to really invest in flood defences, including natural climate solutions.”

Media representation of the heatwaves

The media also has a role to play in tackling climate change. When talking about the extreme weather, Gross says that campaign groups, media outlets and politicians all have a responsibility to talk about “the root cause of it – which is climate change”. 

At a time where the Right has fractured the political consensus on net zero, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch abandoning her party’s net zero by 2050 target and Reform bashing “net stupid zero”, sections of the media are adding to the political backlash. 

When it comes to media outlets, analysis by investigative newspaper Carbon Brief published in January found that for the first time since 2011, there were more editorials in UK newspapers in 2025 against taking action on climate than supporting it. 

In total, almost 100 newspaper editorials opposed climate action in 2025, while 112 editorials – more than two a week – included attacks on then environment secretary Ed Miliband. 

Another research paper by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit found that almost three quarters (72%) of newspaper articles about the heatwaves that took place in June this year did not mention climate change. 

James Painter, a research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, says that to tackle this, “Politicians should be pressing for a more robust Independent Press Standards Organisation, and be calling out the misinformation with more regularity”.

Lobbying

At the heart of anti net-zero narratives is lobbying by fossil fuel interests. The Conservatives have accepted at least seven million in donations from funders and directors of climate denialist organisations – the Global Warming Policy Foundation and its linked pressure group Net Zero Watch. 

Reform UK is advising The Heartland Institute, a US-based organisation that rejects scientific consensus on climate change. The party’s biggest donor, Christopher Harborne, owns AML Global, a company that supplies jet fuel derived from crude oil.

Angharad Hopkinson, political campaigner for Greenpeace UK, told Left Foot Forward: “The main thing stopping climate action is fossil fuel money and lobbying. Oil and gas companies use their considerable resources to ensure that climate disinformation is distributed to the public, online and in broadcast and print media.”

She says: “To combat climate disinformation from the right, we need transparent political funding, robust counter-messaging based on real science, and strong public demand for long-term climate policies.”

Positive stories about climate action

Gross says he thinks “the biggest obstacle to addressing the crisis is no longer denial but defeatism” – the idea that climate change is such a huge problem that there is ‘no point’ in trying to solve it. 

A prime example of this was the Reform deputy leader, Richard Tice, recently saying to the public: “When it’s a bit warm, let’s enjoy it”. 

But in positive news, the public hasn’t bought into climate denial or defeatism. Hopkinson points out that polling has shown that people want more action on climate change, not less.

YouGov polling from November last year revealed that 60% of Brits back net zero targets. In addition, 39% of Britons said the government is currently not spending or doing enough to combat climate change. 

Hopkinson says: “As the climate delayers and deniers get louder, we have to resist and share climate science strongly in return.  Not to persuade the deniers, who frequently don’t believe their own lines, but to let everyone else know that they are in the majority, and should be listened to.”

Gross says that campaign groups, media outlets and politicians also have a responsibility “to tell more hopeful and positive stories about how climate action can improve people’s everyday lives”.

For example, telling stories about how retrofitting homes keeps them warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, while reducing people’s bills and emissions, or how giving people the ability to install plug-in solar panels, as the government did last week, will help them generate their own electricity and reduce their gas consumption.

To borrow Tice’s words, the response to climate change should not be all “doom and gloom”. Action is being taken to tackle the climate crisis, and most of the public backs it.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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Prime Minister Andy Burnham is looking at changing insolvency laws in order to bring key utilities such as Thames Water under public control, as part of his pledge to radically transform how water and energy companies are owned and run.

The Guardian reports that one possibility, ‘according to those briefed on his thinking, is to change the so-called special administration regime (SAR) to make it easier to put companies such as Thames Water into insolvency proceedings, and then take control of them afterwards.’

The water industry, with Thames Water in particular, has come in for criticism amid rising bills and a soaring number of pollution incidents. Thames Water is struggling with £20bn debt, while shareholders make profits and sewage spills rise and customers face rip-off prices.

The Guardian adds: “While Burnham has been clear on his desire to take Thames into public ownership, officials say there are two big problems with the special administration regime as it stands.

“The first is that companies can only be taken into administration if they are insolvent or unable to provide a basic level of service. Owing to continued support from a group of creditors hoping to take ownership of the company, neither of these are the case.

“The second is that once a company enters administration, the administrator is under a legal duty to maximise returns to the creditors, meaning that it will be difficult for the government to take ownership without paying a significant price.”

However, there may be a way forward Burnham, who is looking at changing the special administration regime altogether which includes mending the water bill to introduce new triggers for special administration, including lower financial ones and new environmental metrics.

Music to the ears of many.

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A greater proportion of voters approve of Andy Burnham’s government than disapprove, a poll has found.

The poll, carried out by YouGov, found that 33% of voters approved of the Burnham government’s record to date since he took office, compared to 27% who disapprove.

It comes as Burnham prioritises tackling the cost of living crisis as his immediate priority since becoming Prime Minister, announcing a raft of measures including cutting VAT on electricity, capping bus fares and a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England.

The Prime Minister has also vowed to re-wire Britian and reverse 40 years of neo-liberal policies and privatisation, as well as pledging to nationalise water and energy.

He has benefitted from a rise in poll ratings over last few months, as Nigel Farage continues to struggle with all of his scandals.

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The personal approval ratings of Prime Minister Andy Burnham continue to rise, while Nigel Farage continues to remain in the negative, new polling shows.

The poll, carried out by DeltaPoll between the 21^st -24^th  August, came after Burnham announced measures to cut the cost of living, such as a cut to VAT on electricity bills, capping bus fares and a pledge to end rough sleeping.

He has also been engaged in a nationwide tour to better understand the public’s concerns on the cost of living crisis.

Burnham is on 26%, up 8 points, while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is on 13%. Reform’s Nigel Farage meanwhile is on -16 points.

It comes despite Farage’s victory in the Clacton by-election, which was widely slammed as a political stunt designed to deflect questions away from his financial affairs.

Clearly the public aren’t buying his lies.

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Andy Burnham has been urged by a campaigner to honour his promise to introduce a cap on donations to political parties.

Yesterday evening, the Guardian reported that Burnham has U-turned on his promise to cap political donations at £500,000.

According to government sources, Burnham has decided not to back amendments to the elections bill that would cap donations. The bill will return to Parliament next week. 

In May, Burnham told WakeUpGB campaigner Shaun Bowler that he agreed there should be a cap on political donations.

He voiced support for a cap “to guard against the perception of any one party being duly influenced or swayed by one person or organisation”.

The updated register of MPs’ financial interests, which was published last week, showed that Burnham accepted more than £325,000 in donations in the three months before he became an MP again.

The Guardian has reported that trade unions have influenced Burnham’s decision not to back a cap. Unions reportedly said that amendments to the bill, which will return to Parliament next week, could undermine their ability to donate to the party.

However, Paul Holden, the investigative journalist who wrote a book about undeclared funding received by Labour Together, said: “This is being briefed as if it’s unions opposing donations caps and that’s why Burnham has caved on his promises to cap political donations at £500k. 

“But we’ve literally JUST SEEN Burnham’s donations disclosures, which are not even mentioned in this article.

“They show Burnham getting a pittance from unions but substantial donations from Gary Lubner (£25k) and Lord Sainsbury (over £160k) to support his Labour leadership bid. Lubner and Sainsbury were two of the biggest previous funders of Labour Together and the Starmer projects, who both personally made donations in the millions to Labour Together and/or the Labour Party. 

“Burnham made his promise to cap donations at £500k to an activist in May this year. And then in June and July he gets bankrolled by the types of mega-donors who would be impacted by a donations cap, limiting their ability to influence politics. Then he drops the proposals that would impact on his personal donors. Deeply disappointing and really hard not to join these dots.”

Bowler said: “If his government now refuses to back a donations cap, then he has broken the promise he made to me – and to voters.

“I wanted to believe that someone was finally going to take on the culture that has left so many people feeling that their voices don’t matter and that wealthy people can buy influence over our government.”

Reacting to Burnham’s reported U-turn, former Green Party leader, Caroline Lucas, wrote on X: “Unbelievably disappointing u-turn from the PM – where is the serious culture change at Westminster we were promised?  Our democracy should not be for sale.”

Journalist George Monbiot wrote on Bluesky: “So the ultra-rich will continue to own our politics, and our country. Disappointing to say the least.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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A majority of MPs are in favour of setting up a National Commission to review the UK’s voting system, according to new polling by YouGov.

The proposal for a National Commission, which the Prime Minister endorsed at last year’s Labour Party conference, is supported by 53% of all MPs, with just 34% opposed. 

Among Labour MPs, support for a review of the voting system is even higher, with 55% in favour and just 29% against. 

Andy Burnham has repeatedly said he supports proportional representation. However, he said in a recent Observer interview that he would seek a “popular mandate” to enact voting reform with a manifesto commitment at the next general election. 

Labour MPs want Burnham to move quicker and establish a National Commission on voting reform in his first 100 days as prime minister.

Labour MP, Rachel Blake, said: “These results are no surprise. The Parliamentary Labour Party agrees with Andy Burnham that First Past the Post is broken – and that a National Commission is the way to get a grip on it. 

“The Government should press ahead and launch this process within the Prime Minister’s first hundred days.”

The Representation of the People Bill will return to Parliament next Wednesday (2 September). 

Labour MP Alex Sobel has tabled an amendment calling for a National Commission on Electoral Reform.

The amendment has been signed by 185 cross-party MPs, attracting more signatures than any other amendment since the last general election.

Alex Sobel MP said: “My amendment to establish a National Commission on Electoral Reform has already been signed by 185 MPs – more than any other amendment this parliament. 

“Now we know a majority of MPs back this proposal, including a majority of Labour MPs. The Government has an opportunity to do something historic when Parliament returns – and set the UK on a road towards fair, modern general elections.”

Make Votes Matter CEO, Emma Harrison, said: “MPs are finally starting to catch up with the public, most of whom support fair elections for Westminster. I’ve spoken alongside Andy in favour of Proportional Representation, I know he supports it – now he must show the public he deserves our trust and launch a National Commission on Electoral Reform.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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Campaign group We Own It has said it is “brilliant news” that Andy Burnham is looking at ways to make it easier to bring Thames Water and other failed private companies into public control.

Reporting by The Times yesterday indicated that Burnham had shelved plans to bring Thames Water into public control.

While a Whitehall source told The Times that it would be difficult to put Thames Water into special administration (SAR) due to financial and legal challenges, the source added that SAR “is not off the table”. 

This morning, the Guardian said ministers had denied reports that Burnham had scrapped his nationalisation plans.

The Guardian reported that Burnham is looking at reforming the UK’s insolvency laws to make it easier to put utilities like Thames Water into special administration.

At the moment, companies can only be taken into administration if they are insolvent or unable to provide a basic level of service.

With US hedge fund creditors, Elliott Investment Management, BlackRock and others trying to take over Thames Water, the water company isn’t insolvent or unable to provide a service. 

Another issue is that once a company goes into administration, the administrator is under a legal duty to maximise returns to the creditors. 

This makes it difficult for the government to take ownership without paying a significant price.

A possible solution to the financial and legal challenges would be to use the upcoming Clean Water bill to change the terms of the special administration regime altogether.

Changes being considered include introducing new triggers for special administration, including lower financial thresholds and new environmental metrics.

We Own It, a campaign group that fights for public ownership, has welcomed the news that Burnham is reportedly looking at reforming the special administration regime.

Cat Hobbs, Director of We Own It, said: “The recent noise around the Thames Water scandal has been conflicted and confusing. Its US hedge fund creditors have, through the media, been piling the pressure on Ofwat and the government in an attempt to wrangle a deal that would allow them to pollute our waterways  illegally until the end of the decade. The public has been urging Andy Burnham to hold his nerve, and it seems that he’s listening.

Hobbs added: “It’s brilliant news that the Prime Minister is looking at insolvency laws to make it easier for failed private companies providing public services to go bust in the public interest. 

“For too long, faraway shareholders and creditors have racked up massive debt at our expense, failed the people who depend on those services, and played fast and loose with regulation. It’s crucial that the law enables the government to take back public services and assets when these companies fail.

“Changes to the special administration regime aren’t just about Thames Water, or even the water sector as a whole. Burnham has a huge opportunity to take back energy networks and cut bills, take back Royal Mail (saddled with £3bn of debt by its owner Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínsky) and hold private equity companies to account in social care. There should be no such thing as ‘too big to fail’. If private companies are failing, we need fit for purpose legislation to take them back at minimum cost.”

Hobbs also pointed out that when he was Mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham took the city region’s buses under control. As part of this, he won a court battle with Manchester’s private bus companies.

“This shows the profiteers can be beaten, and he must stand up for the public again,” she said. 

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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