Tuesday briefing: Inside Andy Burnham’s first day
In today’s newsletter: As the new prime minister enters No 10, our journalists take you through what it was like covering his first hours in power
Good morning, and let’s abandon all conditional tenses because finally Andy Burnham is UK prime minister and, on a day of ceremony and celebration, he pledged his government would be “a circuit breaker for Britain”.
A defining characteristic of Team Burnham thus far has been the concentrated silence at its heart – a vacuum filled by increasingly frenzied speculation in recent days about his cabinet picks and policy priorities. As the black box finally cracked open on Monday, with his first instruction as prime minister – to end rough sleeping – and his surprise choice of chancellor, I was at the Guardian’s head office in London, speaking to editors and correspondents covering the early hours of Burnham’s premiership about what they might reveal for the country.
UK news | A 28-year-old man from Rotherham has been charged with the murder of the former MP and Reform UK party spokesperson Ann Widdecombe.
Technology | Cases of predators coercing children into harming themselves or producing sexual photos and videos of themselves have surged globally in the past year, child safety experts and law enforcement officials warn.
Iran | Nearly 100 US service members have been injured over the last two weeks of escalating strikes on Iran, the Pentagon has said, as Tehran launched a wave of reprisals to the tenth consecutive night of attacks.
Ryanair | The airline has reassured travellers that its planes are safe after a passenger was almost sucked out of a window mid-flight this month, and have reported strong summer bookings after a profits slump.
UK politics | Reform UK MP, Sarah Pochin, has complained that the standards system investigating Nigel Farage over undeclared gifts is a “kangaroo court” and that “the media, the British state and the old parties have mounted a vicious and desperate campaign to stop Reform UK”.
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