UK politics: Labour minister denies Burnham ‘too blokey’ – as it happened

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Burnham is 'definitely not' too blokey, says minister

Home office minister Anna Turley has responded to a report that Andy Burnham is “too blokey” on social media because of his references to football and downing pints at the pub.

The Times reported that a No 10 team had advised the prime minister to tone down his “blokeish” videos online that attempts to appeal to a wider audience.

In one such video to promote his recently announced 20% cut in business rates, Burnham is sat with chancellor John Healey ranking pub snacks (he picked crisps as his top choice, while Healey went for pork scratchings). It’s a similar format to the “snack wars” videos made popular by LadBible, and has amassed five million views on X.

Pubs deserve our backing. I’m not sure some of @JohnHealeyMP's choices here do though...Our 20% cut in business rates will benefit thousands of pubs, clubs and music venues across the country. pic.twitter.com/St9kNI9p0J— Andy Burnham (@andyburnham) July 24, 2026

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When asked if Burnham was “too blokey”, Turley told LBC Radio: “Definitely not, I’m very partial to pubs and football myself, so I enjoyed his video on bar snacks. I think he is very authentic. That’s who he is and I think people want to see a politician who is who they are.”

She added: “Our communication has gone up substantially in terms of being authentic and reaching people.”

That’s all from us on the UK politics blog, thanks for following along.

Here is a recap of the day’s developments:

• \n The government said more arrests are being made for illegal working, with Home Office figures showing more than 17,000 people have been arrested since the July 2024 general election – more than double the number recorded in the previous two-year period.
• \n Of those arrested, 2,357 people have been deported, according to the Home Office, a 50% increase compared with the number returned between July 2022 and June 2024.
• \n Border security and asylum minister Anna Turley said immigration enforcement activity was “the highest levels in British history”. She added: “We’re sending a message that if you think you can come to this country and work illegally and disappear off the books, then our immigration enforcement service will find you [and] will arrest you.”
• \n The Conservative party has pledged to end social housing eligibility for all foreign nationals, saying it would free up almost 230,000 for British families.
• \n The plans have been described as “divisive” by Sarah Elliott, the chief executive of housing charity Shelter, who said the policy would “brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades”.

• \n Defending the plans, shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said it would take “years and years” to provide homes for everyone on the waiting list, and argued that her party’s policy was a faster approach to freeing up homes.
• \n Also today, the defence secretary, Wes Streeting, said people with legitimate concerns around immigration should not be “conflated with the violent thugs we’ve seen on our streets”, following violent anti-immigration protests in Thetford that saw homes targeted and police officers injured. “There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for violence and thuggery to be directed to anyone in our society,” he said.
• \n Streeting said it was “not OK” that the killers of PC Andrew Harper were eligible for early release. He said the government should “never have been put” in a position where overcrowded prisons meant considering the early release of people serving sentences for serious offences.
• \n In other news, Turley has responded to a report that Andy Burnham is “too blokey” on social media because of his references to football and the pub. “I think he is very authentic,” she said.

Streeting said it was “not OK” that the killers of PC Andrew Harper were eligible for early release, PA reports.

He said the government should “never have been put in a position” where prisons were so full that offenders were going to be let out at an earlier stage of their sentence.

“We take this extremely seriously, not least in the light of the concerns raised by the family of PC Harper,” he said during a visit in Rosyth in Fife, Scotland.

Responding to the concerns raised by victims of crime and bereaved relatives, he said: “I’m not expecting any of those people to think that early release is OK because it’s not OK.

“We should never have been put in a position where prisons across the country were so full to bursting that any government, let alone this government, had to contemplate the early release of people from serious convictions that have led to being prison in the first place.”

The defence secretary, Wes Streeting, said people with legitimate concerns around immigration should not be “conflated with the violent thugs we’ve seen on our streets”, following violent anti-immigration protests in Thetford that saw homes targeted and police officers injured.

Speaking to reporters, he said: “There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for violence and thuggery to be directed to anyone in our society, whether that’s people seeking sanctuary in Britain or indeed the police that are trying to maintain public order.

“This government is taking action to deal with the legitimate concerns that people have around immigration, particularly the challenges around small boats.”

Streeting said small boat arrivals had fallen by about 40%, with more than 46,000 crossings deterred or stopped.

He added: “There are people who have legitimate concerns who know how to voice them.

“And I don’t want those people conflated with the violent thugs we’ve seen on our streets, who seem to suggest on one hand they’re concerned about public safety and public order in relation to asylum seekers, while at the same time going out and breaking the law as violent racist thugs.

“And I don’t think we should conflate the two.”

His comments came after two men were arrested in the Norfolk town of Thetford after police were injured protecting people believed to be asylum seekers from mobs trying to break into their homes.

Alan Milburn is guiding a metal loop along the serpentine wire of an electrical buzzer game as he explains the challenge of Britain’s youth jobs crisis. “We have got more than a million young people not in education, employment or training (Neet). Crisis is an over-used word – but this is a crisis.”

On a fact-finding trip to Dublin, the former UK cabinet minister is being shown around an Irish Rail training facility. He tells the apprentices who rigged up the game that, while things are bad in Britain, Ireland is on the right track.

“It’s about half the rate here, it’s fallen very rapidly. And we want to try to work out, what is that? Why? There’s something going on; maybe there’s something you guys have been doing that we haven’t?”

Alyx Tobin, one of the hi-vis clad trainees, chips in: “Hopefully we can get to the bottom of it together?”

Over the past decade, Ireland has achieved the fastest reduction in Neet rates anywhere in the EU, from 14.3% in 2015 to 6.1% last year. That compares with a rise from 11.1% to 12.8% in the UK. Romania is the only EU country with a higher rate.

As he prepares to publish a report into the crisis for the UK government this autumn, Milburn has brought a delegation of officials, charity leaders, industry bosses and the mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, with him on the trip across the Irish sea.

“We’re here really to understand what the secret sauce is,” he says.

Read more:

Home office minister Anna Turley has responded to a report that Andy Burnham is “too blokey” on social media because of his references to football and downing pints at the pub.

The Times reported that a No 10 team had advised the prime minister to tone down his “blokeish” videos online that attempts to appeal to a wider audience.

In one such video to promote his recently announced 20% cut in business rates, Burnham is sat with chancellor John Healey ranking pub snacks (he picked crisps as his top choice, while Healey went for pork scratchings). It’s a similar format to the “snack wars” videos made popular by LadBible, and has amassed five million views on X.

Pubs deserve our backing. I’m not sure some of @JohnHealeyMP's choices here do though...Our 20% cut in business rates will benefit thousands of pubs, clubs and music venues across the country. pic.twitter.com/St9kNI9p0J— Andy Burnham (@andyburnham) July 24, 2026

When asked if Burnham was “too blokey”, Turley told LBC Radio: “Definitely not, I’m very partial to pubs and football myself, so I enjoyed his video on bar snacks. I think he is very authentic. That’s who he is and I think people want to see a politician who is who they are.”

She added: “Our communication has gone up substantially in terms of being authentic and reaching people.”

Plans to ban foreign nationals from social housing under a Conservative government have been condemned as “divisive”.

Under proposals revealed on Friday, the party said about 230,000 homes would become available if foreign nationals were prevented from accessing social housing.

Ending new tenancies for all foreign nationals, as well as current tenancies for couples where neither person is a UK, Irish or EU citizen, would free up an estimated 228,144 homes for British families, the party said.

Under the plans, tenants in England who do not qualify for the housing would be expected to move out of their homes within six months.

Foreign nationals with settled status, refugee status or specific humanitarian protections currently qualify for social housing. Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing, unless in exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases.

Sarah Elliott, the chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said: “These divisive plans would brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades. And let’s not forget that social tenants pay rent, which goes back to the public purse and into society.”

Read more:

Primary schools in England should be required to identify children at risk of leaving education at 16 without finding a job, a government review is to recommend.

Alan Milburn, who is leading a review into Britain’s crisis in youth worklessness, said he would call for sweeping changes in education policy alongside a shake-up of the benefits system to address the problem.

Speaking to the Guardian, he said ministers needed to “make somebody responsible” for identifying and supporting the children who risked becoming Neet (not in employment, education or training) after their GCSE year up to the age of 24.

“The warning signs are there from a very early, early age. You know, frankly from preschool,” he said.

“So, definitely primary schools should be identifying children who are at risk of being Neet. And secondary schools and other services should be intercepting, intervening, supporting and helping those young people to get on a different path.”

Read more:

Morning and welcome to our UK politics blog.

The government said more arrests are being made for illegal working, with Home Office figures showing more than 17,000 people have been arrested since the July 2024 general election – more than double the number recorded in the previous two-year period.

Of those arrested, 2,357 people have been deported, according to the Home Office, a 50% increase compared with the number returned between July 2022 and June 2024.

Commenting on those numbers on the media round this morning, the border security and asylum minister Anna Turley said it was “the highest levels in British history”.

“We’re sending a message that if you think you can come to this country and work illegally and disappear off the books, then our immigration enforcement service will find you [and] will arrest you,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Meanwhile, the Conservative party has pledged to end social housing eligibility for all foreign nationals, saying it would free up almost 230,000 for British families. Under the proposals, tenants in England who do not qualify would be expected to move out of their homes within six months.

The plans have been described as “divisive” by Sarah Elliott, the chief executive of housing charity Shelter, who said the policy would “brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades”.

You can read more on that story here:

Also today:

• \n Chaos has descended on the Norfolk town of Thetford for a third night in a row as violent anti-immigration protests saw crowds of people attempt to storm a home believed to be housing asylum seekers.
• \n Norfolk police said two men in their 40s were arrested last night while some of the asylum seekers had to be escorted from homes as a result of the unrest. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Norfolk chief constable Paul Sanford said officers were “subjected to significant aggression”, with one hit with a rock, one bitten and another spat at.
• \n The government is also under pressure to review the potential early release of two of the men who killed PC Andrew Harper. Det Supt Stuart Blaik, who led the investigation in 2019, told the BBC he was “deeply concerned and appalled” by the prospect and that Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers could be freed halfway through their 13-year sentences.

Key events

• 1h agoClosing summary
• 2h agoEarly release for PC Andrew Harper's killers 'not OK,' says Streeting
• 2h agoStreeting: Legitimate immigration concerns should not be conflated with 'violent thugs'
• 2h agoWhat can Dublin teach us? Milburn goes on a quest to solve youth jobs crisis
• 4h agoBurnham is 'definitely not' too blokey, says minister
• 6h agoTory plan to ban foreign nationals from social housing condemned as ‘divisive’
• 6h agoPrimary schools to be told to identify children at risk of future unemployment
• 6h agoGovernment says more people working illegally are being arrested and deported

Closing summary

That’s all from us on the UK politics blog, thanks for following along.

Here is a recap of the day’s developments:

• The government said more arrests are being made for illegal working, with Home Office figures showing more than 17,000 people have been arrested since the July 2024 general election – more than double the number recorded in the previous two-year period.
• Of those arrested, 2,357 people have been deported, according to the Home Office, a 50% increase compared with the number returned between July 2022 and June 2024.
• Border security and asylum minister Anna Turley said immigration enforcement activity was “the highest levels in British history”. She added: “We’re sending a message that if you think you can come to this country and work illegally and disappear off the books, then our immigration enforcement service will find you [and] will arrest you.”
• The Conservative party has pledged to end social housing eligibility for all foreign nationals, saying it would free up almost 230,000 for British families.
• The plans have been described as “divisive” by Sarah Elliott, the chief executive of housing charity Shelter, who said the policy would “brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades”.

• Defending the plans, shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said it would take “years and years” to provide homes for everyone on the waiting list, and argued that her party’s policy was a faster approach to freeing up homes.
• Also today, the defence secretary, Wes Streeting, said people with legitimate concerns around immigration should not be “conflated with the violent thugs we’ve seen on our streets”, following violent anti-immigration protests in Thetford that saw homes targeted and police officers injured. “There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for violence and thuggery to be directed to anyone in our society,” he said.
• Streeting said it was “not OK” that the killers of PC Andrew Harper were eligible for early release. He said the government should “never have been put” in a position where overcrowded prisons meant considering the early release of people serving sentences for serious offences.
• In other news, Turley has responded to a report that Andy Burnham is “too blokey” on social media because of his references to football and the pub. “I think he is very authentic,” she said.

Prime minister Andy Burnham hands a pint of beer to chancellor John Healy during a visit to the Hare Inn in Harlow, Essex. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

Early release for PC Andrew Harper's killers 'not OK,' says Streeting

Streeting said it was “not OK” that the killers of PC Andrew Harper were eligible for early release, PA reports.

He said the government should “never have been put in a position” where prisons were so full that offenders were going to be let out at an earlier stage of their sentence.

“We take this extremely seriously, not least in the light of the concerns raised by the family of PC Harper,” he said during a visit in Rosyth in Fife, Scotland.

Wes Streeting during a visit to Babcock in Rosyth. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Responding to the concerns raised by victims of crime and bereaved relatives, he said: “I’m not expecting any of those people to think that early release is OK because it’s not OK.

“We should never have been put in a position where prisons across the country were so full to bursting that any government, let alone this government, had to contemplate the early release of people from serious convictions that have led to being prison in the first place.”

Streeting: Legitimate immigration concerns should not be conflated with 'violent thugs'

The defence secretary, Wes Streeting, said people with legitimate concerns around immigration should not be “conflated with the violent thugs we’ve seen on our streets”, following violent anti-immigration protests in Thetford that saw homes targeted and police officers injured.

Speaking to reporters, he said: “There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for violence and thuggery to be directed to anyone in our society, whether that’s people seeking sanctuary in Britain or indeed the police that are trying to maintain public order.

Defence secretary Wes Streeting speaking to the media during a visit to Babcock in Rosyth in Fife, Scotland. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

“This government is taking action to deal with the legitimate concerns that people have around immigration, particularly the challenges around small boats.”

Streeting said small boat arrivals had fallen by about 40%, with more than 46,000 crossings deterred or stopped.

He added: “There are people who have legitimate concerns who know how to voice them.

“And I don’t want those people conflated with the violent thugs we’ve seen on our streets, who seem to suggest on one hand they’re concerned about public safety and public order in relation to asylum seekers, while at the same time going out and breaking the law as violent racist thugs.

“And I don’t think we should conflate the two.”

His comments came after two men were arrested in the Norfolk town of Thetford after police were injured protecting people believed to be asylum seekers from mobs trying to break into their homes.

What can Dublin teach us? Milburn goes on a quest to solve youth jobs crisis

Richard Partington

Alan Milburn is guiding a metal loop along the serpentine wire of an electrical buzzer game as he explains the challenge of Britain’s youth jobs crisis. “We have got more than a million young people not in education, employment or training (Neet). Crisis is an over-used word – but this is a crisis.”

On a fact-finding trip to Dublin, the former UK cabinet minister is being shown around an Irish Rail training facility. He tells the apprentices who rigged up the game that, while things are bad in Britain, Ireland is on the right track.

“It’s about half the rate here, it’s fallen very rapidly. And we want to try to work out, what is that? Why? There’s something going on; maybe there’s something you guys have been doing that we haven’t?”

Alyx Tobin, one of the hi-vis clad trainees, chips in: “Hopefully we can get to the bottom of it together?”

Over the past decade, Ireland has achieved the fastest reduction in Neet rates anywhere in the EU, from 14.3% in 2015 to 6.1% last year. That compares with a rise from 11.1% to 12.8% in the UK. Romania is the only EU country with a higher rate.

As he prepares to publish a report into the crisis for the UK government this autumn, Milburn has brought a delegation of officials, charity leaders, industry bosses and the mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, with him on the trip across the Irish sea.

“We’re here really to understand what the secret sauce is,” he says.

Read more:

Scottish Labour has “turned to rubble”, one of the party’s leadership contenders has claimed.

Monica Lennon still does not have enough support to secure a spot on the ballot to take on MSPs Michael Marra and Joe Fagan in the contest to succeed Anas Sarwar.

But posting on X as she continued her drive to be put to members, Lennon hit out at the state of the party.

She posted in response to Labour MP Jon Trickett, who said “get Monica on the ballot paper”.

She wrote: “What @jon_trickett is saying reflects how members feel.

“After 19 years of opposition and six Holyrood election defeats, @ScottishLabour has turned to rubble.

“We need time and space to get this right before we lose more members and activists and there’s no one left to lead.”

Burnham is 'definitely not' too blokey, says minister

Home office minister Anna Turley has responded to a report that Andy Burnham is “too blokey” on social media because of his references to football and downing pints at the pub.

The Times reported that a No 10 team had advised the prime minister to tone down his “blokeish” videos online that attempts to appeal to a wider audience.

In one such video to promote his recently announced 20% cut in business rates, Burnham is sat with chancellor John Healey ranking pub snacks (he picked crisps as his top choice, while Healey went for pork scratchings). It’s a similar format to the “snack wars” videos made popular by LadBible, and has amassed five million views on X.

Pubs deserve our backing. I’m not sure some of @JohnHealeyMP's choices here do though...Our 20% cut in business rates will benefit thousands of pubs, clubs and music venues across the country. pic.twitter.com/St9kNI9p0J— Andy Burnham (@andyburnham) July 24, 2026

Allow content provided by a third party?

This article includes content hosted on platform.x.com. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'.

When asked if Burnham was “too blokey”, Turley told LBC Radio: “Definitely not, I’m very partial to pubs and football myself, so I enjoyed his video on bar snacks. I think he is very authentic. That’s who he is and I think people want to see a politician who is who they are.”

She added: “Our communication has gone up substantially in terms of being authentic and reaching people.”

Conservative councillors have been told they “must not allow” Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green-led councils to disregard new guidance on single-sex spaces.

Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake said he would ensure all Tory-run authorities comply with the guidance, which states that single-sex toilets and changing rooms should be used according to a person’s sex at birth.

He made the comments in a letter to Tory councillors after reports that some councils could choose not to follow the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidance.

The guidance sets out that if transgender people are allowed to use facilities “intended for the opposite sex, the service will no longer be a separate or single-sex service under the Equality Act 2010”.

Organisation leaders must also “think about whether women’s safety, privacy and/or dignity would be at risk in the service if it was shared with men”.

In the letter, posted on X, Hollinrake wrote: “Several national newspapers report that Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green councils are working together to undermine it.

“Conservatives and Conservative-run councils must not allow this to happen.”

Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately has been on the media round this morning for the Conservatives to talk about her party’s pledge to ban foreign nationals from social housing.

Here is a roundup of what she said:

• When asked on BBC Breakfast whether people who have fled war in Ukraine would be made to leave their social housing home by a Tory government, Whately responded: “We’re not attempting to change people’s migration status, if people have come here and sought refuge … Britain is a welcoming country for that and we’re not about to change it.” When asked to clarify whether Ukrainian refugees would be “thrown out” under her party’s policy, Whately took issue with the language, saying: “We’re making sure people have six months to find another place to live.”
• Appearing on Sky News, Whately was asked what would happen to people after the six-month grace period. She said: “You should do what most people in the UK do, which is find their own accommodation, for instance, private rented accommodation.”
• Times Radio raised the issue of insufficient social housing being built. In response, Whately said it would take “years and years” to provide homes for everyone on the waiting list, and argued that her party’s policy was a faster approach to freeing up homes.

Tory plan to ban foreign nationals from social housing condemned as ‘divisive’

Caroline Davies

Plans to ban foreign nationals from social housing under a Conservative government have been condemned as “divisive”.

Under proposals revealed on Friday, the party said about 230,000 homes would become available if foreign nationals were prevented from accessing social housing.

Ending new tenancies for all foreign nationals, as well as current tenancies for couples where neither person is a UK, Irish or EU citizen, would free up an estimated 228,144 homes for British families, the party said.

Under the plans, tenants in England who do not qualify for the housing would be expected to move out of their homes within six months.

Foreign nationals with settled status, refugee status or specific humanitarian protections currently qualify for social housing. Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing, unless in exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases.

Sarah Elliott, the chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said: “These divisive plans would brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades. And let’s not forget that social tenants pay rent, which goes back to the public purse and into society.”

Read more:

Primary schools to be told to identify children at risk of future unemployment

Richard Partington

Primary schools in England should be required to identify children at risk of leaving education at 16 without finding a job, a government review is to recommend.

Alan Milburn, who is leading a review into Britain’s crisis in youth worklessness, said he would call for sweeping changes in education policy alongside a shake-up of the benefits system to address the problem.

Speaking to the Guardian, he said ministers needed to “make somebody responsible” for identifying and supporting the children who risked becoming Neet (not in employment, education or training) after their GCSE year up to the age of 24.

“The warning signs are there from a very early, early age. You know, frankly from preschool,” he said.

“So, definitely primary schools should be identifying children who are at risk of being Neet. And secondary schools and other services should be intercepting, intervening, supporting and helping those young people to get on a different path.”

Read more:

Government says more people working illegally are being arrested and deported

Morning and welcome to our UK politics blog.

The government said more arrests are being made for illegal working, with Home Office figures showing more than 17,000 people have been arrested since the July 2024 general election – more than double the number recorded in the previous two-year period.

Of those arrested, 2,357 people have been deported, according to the Home Office, a 50% increase compared with the number returned between July 2022 and June 2024.

Commenting on those numbers on the media round this morning, the border security and asylum minister Anna Turley said it was “the highest levels in British history”.

“We’re sending a message that if you think you can come to this country and work illegally and disappear off the books, then our immigration enforcement service will find you [and] will arrest you,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Meanwhile, the Conservative party has pledged to end social housing eligibility for all foreign nationals, saying it would free up almost 230,000 for British families. Under the proposals, tenants in England who do not qualify would be expected to move out of their homes within six months.

The plans have been described as “divisive” by Sarah Elliott, the chief executive of housing charity Shelter, who said the policy would “brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades”.

You can read more on that story here:

Also today:

• Chaos has descended on the Norfolk town of Thetford for a third night in a row as violent anti-immigration protests saw crowds of people attempt to storm a home believed to be housing asylum seekers.
• Norfolk police said two men in their 40s were arrested last night while some of the asylum seekers had to be escorted from homes as a result of the unrest. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Norfolk chief constable Paul Sanford said officers were “subjected to significant aggression”, with one hit with a rock, one bitten and another spat at.
• The government is also under pressure to review the potential early release of two of the men who killed PC Andrew Harper. Det Supt Stuart Blaik, who led the investigation in 2019, told the BBC he was “deeply concerned and appalled” by the prospect and that Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers could be freed halfway through their 13-year sentences.