Sir Keir Starmer spends his final days as PM traveling to Paris for Ukraine talks and Bastille Day, while Andy Burnham is set to succeed him. Starmer pushes the Hillsborough Law for duty of candour, and Rachel Reeves delivers her final Mansion House speech, warning Burnham to stay focused. Burnham considers an expanded budget.
Sir Keir Starmer will begin his final full week as Prime Minister by spending two days out of the country. He is traveling to Paris today to join other allies of Ukraine for a meeting of the coalition of the willing.
The Prime Minister, nicknamed never here Keir by critics of his foreign travel while in power, is also expected to join leaders including Emmanuel Macron for Bastille Day events on Tuesday. During his two-year premiership, Starmer has visited Paris more than any other city, discussing help for Ukraine and ways of stopping Channel migrant boats.
Meanwhile, Andy Burnham, the only candidate in Labour's leadership process, is expected to officially succeed Starmer on Monday. No other challenger could secure the required 81 MP nominations to stand against Burnham, as he already has the support of 323 out of Labour's 403 MPs, with more likely to nominate him today. This political transition marks a significant shift in UK leadership, as Burnham prepares to take over at Number 10 Downing Street.
Starmer is making a last effort to secure a legacy with the Hillsborough Law passing the Commons before he departs. The law change, officially known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, would create a legally enforceable duty of candour that compels public officials and authorities to act transparently when investigations and inquiries take place.
It takes its name from the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 when 97 Liverpool fans were killed at the football stadium in Sheffield in a crush during an FA Cup semi-final match. After the disaster, key public servants, including the police, were found to have not told the truth about the decisions taken leading up to the fatal crush at the Leppings Lane end of the ground.
The bill has been repeatedly delayed over concerns from the security services about how it could impact spies. However, the government now believes it has reached a point where individual employees and ex-employees of the intelligence services will be covered by a duty of candour without compromising national security. Passing this bill would provide a lasting tribute to the victims and their families, ensuring greater accountability in public office.
Elsewhere, Rachel Reeves is carrying out her final duties as Chancellor and is due to give her final Mansion House speech to the City on Tuesday, where she will lay out plans to support small businesses. On Sunday, Reeves warned Burnham that he must remain laser focused on what he wants to achieve in power.
Speaking to the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, she said: It is important that when Andy walks through that door, that he has a worked-through plan, because governing is hard in Britain, and lots of challenges and shocks will come his way. What is really important is that him and his team are really clear about what they want to achieve.
As those shocks come along, he needs to stay laser focused on those things that have always motivated him, have always driven him, and are the reason why he wants to lead our great country. Reeves has conceded she will not stay on as Burnham's chancellor, and said it was perfectly reasonable for him to be ambitious when asked about claims he had been plotting a bid to enter Downing Street for over a year.
Furthermore, Burnham is considering the possibility of an expanded budget in the autumn, according to the Financial Times. Once installed as Labour leader, he is mulling over including a departmental spending review with the autumn fiscal statement to set out his overall strategy until the next election. This could signal a more aggressive fiscal approach to address the UK's economic challenges
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