Lee Anderson column: It's been a bleak start for Burnham's Britain
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham's cabinet features many of the same faces from Keir Starmer's administration.
It's a different circus, but with the same clowns.
In his first week, Andy Burnham announced a number of quickfire policies designed to grab headlines, but none of it is washing with the public.
The tax cut on household electricity bills has been a highlight of his new policy changes.
However, the details of the cut will leave a lot to be desired for the British people.
It will save households a whopping 82p per week.
For residents wanting more, the Labour Messiah has already performed a U-turn on another tax cut, ruling out a rise in the income tax personal allowance threshold.
At the same time, the British people have been told this week that they may have to pay more tax, which will likely be used to plug the gaping £15 billion blackhole in the defence budget.
So, they are giving peanuts with one hand and soon will be taking much more with the other.
Meanwhile, Burnham has announced a significant boost in foreign aid spending, with £153m being sent to Pakistan.
Residents can see where his priorities truly lie.
Burnham has also promised to end homelessness in Britain.
To Mancunians, this policy will sound familiar, as he also promised to end homelessness in Greater Manchester when he was its mayor.
How did that go, you ask?
Homelessness in Greater Manchester has more than doubled since 2021 under Burnham's watch.
So, there is no reason to believe he will follow through on his promise this time.
The migrant boats are still crossing the English channel in record figures.
Just two days into Burnham's administration, the second ever 'mega dinghy' crossed the channel, with a record-breaking 165 migrants on board.
They clearly don't believe that Burnham will stop them from coming.
Meanwhile, the Government has launched a legal bid to prevent the release of migrant crime data.
Using your own money, they are going to all lengths possible to prevent you from knowing the full scale of migrant crime in our country.
It’s disgraceful.
To that end, I have written to the Justice Secretary to demand that the data be released in full – people deserve to know.
I'm afraid it's been a bleak start for Burnham's Britain.
The country really is in trouble if this is our future.
We need a General Election now.