Mr Burnham tells us he feels passionate about everyone having a bed and a room for the night. That is a good ambition. He then acknowledges that some people sleeping out refuse Council accommodation. When he was Mayor of Manchester he had some success in getting numbers sleeping out down at first by offering beds to those who did want one and accepting a minority did not. Then numbers started to rise again. He ascribed this turn round to the idea that people sleeping rough elsewhere heard of the Manchester scheme to find people beds, so they came to Manchester to add to the demand.
This perception has caused Mr Burnham a problem. He now has to say he needs to take national action to end involuntary rough sleeping because any well intentioned Mayor may follow a policy which is undermined by the lack of a policy elsewhere in No Mayor lands or in Uncaring Mayor lands. His idea that we will all be better off with more powers for Mayors takes a tumble as he seeks to find a national override on the one thing above all else he cares passionately about. Homelessness was always before a local government responsibility. Councils have a better knowledge of the local housing market and what is possible.
He should also do a little more thinking and see the same applies to the problem of illegal migration. Under a new national policy to offer any rough sleeper a bed and room presumably illegals who get into the UK who do not have accommodation can sleep rough and qualify for the rough sleeping accelerated provision of housing. Mr Burnham needs to be aware he could be creating more demand for his homeless policy, just as he says he did in Manchester when people came from outside to take advantage. Could he face more illegal migrants seeing the way they could use the rough sleeper accelerated access to housing as an additional benefit of breaking the law to get here?
Mr Burnham says he wants to stop the boats and smash the gangs, but still has not set out how he will do this. He now needs to be careful lest the policies he is following encourages more migrants. The policy of dispersal for migrants housing to dearer parts of the country will add to the costs and do nothing to act as a deterrent to migrants who see the UK as a soft touch. Labour’s abolition of the Conservative law that an illegal could not claim asylum here coupled with abandoning the Rwanda scheme before the legal situation was sorted out have already made the task much more difficult
August 21, 2026
This disastrous Labour government were enabled by the woefully dissapointing Conervatives who had 4.5 years to deal with the boats crisis and failed.
Now we are faced with official guidance from the Home Office to these invaders that unwanted sexual attention is against the law in this country..
It is beyond belief that we have sunk to this state since 2020.
August 21, 2026
Burnham wants to stop the boats but his Home Secretary is defending the woeful behaviour of the French Police.
There is no urgency with this government to stop the invasion because Fabians believe in open borders.
All this adds to the rough sleeping problem bit fits the government agenda of evenly dispersing the problem. Replacing the Indigenous population carries on apace.
August 21, 2026
Burnham is suggesting he has solutions and that he is caring. So far he has not personally had to answer any awkward questions about these solutions.
Meanwhile, he is getting to know his MPs and planning how to manage them without trouble.
Eventually he will be called to account, but he will have then had some time to prepare his answers.
However, the bottom line is that nothing will fundamentally change.
Anarchy will continue. Illegals will still flood in. Real crime will not be tackled. Shoplifting and street violence will increase.
‘Thought crime’ will still be policed, perhaps new methods of doing so will be adopted.
Working people will be still be burdened with more and more tax to fund it all.
The system will continue to function on the basis that working people in the UK are compliant and unlikely to resort to violent protest. So far, so good.
August 21, 2026
The French government is directly funding charities / NGO’s helping illegals cross the Channel to England.
August 21, 2026
So is the British government. £370 million of taxpayer money paid to pro-migration charities in the last decade. I don’t remember voting for this.
August 21, 2026
Andrew Jones – Maybe the Home Office should provide these “invaders” with a more complete list of what is against the law in this country …. including illegal immigration ?
August 21, 2026
Labour’s abolition of the Conservative law that an illegal could not claim asylum here coupled with abandoning the Rwanda scheme
That’s Liebour for you they couldn’t give a toss about the British but if your a foreigner come here to the land of milk and honey will find you a home eventually, how about it Sir John if possible a list of the top 20 who are sleeping rough I’d put money on it foreigners take up the top of the list
August 21, 2026
I read a few weeks ago that 40% of rough sleepers in the UK/London, were not born in this Country.
August 21, 2026
Lord John, you are expecting the T-shirt boy to think about the consequences of his actions. Of course he won’t do that. He is all about feelgood gestures intended to get favourable headlines. Will he have any serious policies different from Starmer (and before)? I’m waiting to see if he goes to Davos in January and signals he’s a continuity globalist.
August 21, 2026
@Clough – Think! that would be the day.
August 21, 2026
He surely is a continuity globalist his and Angela Eagle’s (PPE Oxon and leader of the Fabian group at Oxford University) latest economic vandalism is to implement a EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). This green import levy on carbon-intensive goods like ammonia and synthetic fertilizers is set to take effect in January, prompting warnings from farmers and industry groups about soaring food and farming costs.
Yet he claims his priority is to tackle the cost of living crisis!
August 21, 2026
Ruling the country is so devilishly complicated when you have clever people like our kind host pointing out flaws in one’s policies. The best solution is to silence such critics.
August 21, 2026
Many were appalled to read comments made by Reform’s “Tricky Dickie” Tice that, as the country roasted in record August temperatures, we need to get used to it and enjoy watching our houses burn down while drinking English wine. Of course, the record global temperatures the world is experiencing have nothing to do with “drill baby drill” at all. Apparently it’s a natural phenomenon and net zero is making it worse.
Organizations like Greenpeace accused Tice and Reform of spreading deliberate misinformation to protect the interests of the fossil fuel companies backing them – noting that cutting emissions remains the only scientifically proven way to prevent extreme weather events from worsening
Thanks to Reform council cuts savaging the numbers of firefighters and fire engines, the good burghers of Stourbridge were evacuated rather than have their properties, possessions, furniture, beds etc saved. One hopes they were insured
August 21, 2026
@SG: Stourbridge comes under the West Midlands authority, where cuts to the fire service have been ongoing since 2015 (Birmingham Live Jan. 2016). Nothing to do with Reform.
August 21, 2026
SG
That is a strange take on what Mr Tice said.
EG He said…Of course the climate changes, but where is the evidence that net zero will stop it.
And
Maybe the smarter thing is to adapt to it rather than arrogently think we can stop it.
PS
It isnt “scientifically proven” as you and Greenpeace say, it is a theory and one where even the UN’s IPPC say the link between extreme weather events and global warming is not fully proven.
August 21, 2026
Since the July 2024 UK General Election, a total of 80,286 people—including illegal migrants, small boat arrivals, and foreign national offenders have been deported between 1 July 2024 and 31 July 2026. This represents a 52% increase compared to the previous two years and marks the highest level of deportations and returns since 2016. Source: Home Office
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a 40% increase in immigration detention capacity to clear backlogs, expanding sites like Campsfield and Haslar to hold an additional 1,000 individuals
So far this year, 15,867 small boat migrants have been detected crossing the English Channel (as of 17 August 2026). This represents a significant decline of roughly 45% compared to the same period in 2025, and about a 16% drop compared to 2024 Source: the Independent
The government has introduced new fast-track legislation aimed at deporting an extra 45,000 foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers over the next decade by restricting unnecessary human rights and legal appeals
Shabana Mahmood has reportedly declined an invitation to join the net stupid anti-swans Reform UK limited company. Good for her.
Reply 60,000 of your so called deportees went willingly without any enforcement action. Many of those leaving received grants from UK taxpayers on the way out. Very few were small boat illegals.
August 21, 2026
@ JR – reply
Does it matter how we have managed to get them out? As far as I can see, the more, the better
Thanks to measures introduced by the last government – restricting the right of successful asylum seekers to bring in their extended family for example – the UK population has stabilised for the first time in 30 years.
Mind you, the commonest boys name registered here in 2025 was still Mohammad. As it was for the previous two years.
August 21, 2026
The simple answer to the illegal invasion is to stop the pull factor of housing and benefits to anyone who comes here illegally ,and return them immediately to where they came from.
Stop all taxpayer funding for human rights lawyers, and get out of the ECHR.
Stop government (taxpayer) funding of all so called Charities that promote andd help illegal entry.
August 21, 2026
Your measures wouldn’t stop a single boat. The only solution is to stop them at our border. The gangs would then be ‘smashed’ within days as there would be no incentive for the migrants to pay them.
August 21, 2026
I thought that is what I outlined, return them immediately, but also stop the full factor that encourages them in the first place.
August 21, 2026
How much longer will we wait for a government to enforce border control. It’s been thirty years of no control, one would think someone in government would have noticed.
August 21, 2026
I often wonder if the ‘soft power’ of the BBCs 43 radio World Services is attracting migrants to UK shores.
August 21, 2026
I chuckled at your reference to No Mayors Land and uncaring Mayors Land Lord Redwood. In London we would benefit from having a No Mayors Land rather than our current Biased Mayor Land.
There are charities for rough sleepers. Much of it is voluntary and there is plenty of support for those who are involuntarily displaced already.
When will government govern for the majority rather than the minority. Far too many pieces of legislation, targeted funding and initiatives are aimed at minorities. Government should be all about the majority. Charities exist to help minorities. Those who care about those issues can fund the charities rather than my tax (and borrowing as we can’t afford our government).
Government is the most expensive thing you will ever pay for and you will pay for it throughout your life!
August 21, 2026
+1
Correct. We need less government involvement and more understanding of the issue.
August 21, 2026
Very Socialist thinking, the people didn’t comply with me and fit in the boxes that my personal ideology dictates, so its has to be someone else to blame. Someone else is rocking the boat, someone else is undermining my dictates. After all I the great holder political indoctrination just can’t be wrong.
Socialism doesn’t allow for difference, it about moulding people and their thoughts, through a central Politburo.
Burnham was right about the need to devolve the decision making closer to the action, the people closer to were the ‘doing’ needs ‘doing’. Have communities take charge of their own destiny. But, that is not exactly what he meant. He instead as he is demonstrating wants to grow the power at the centre, grow the size and complexity of that power base, then dictate how devolved entities must follow his commands. The opposite action to the words looking for a ‘sound bite’ – headline, look at me.
August 21, 2026
Under Socialism everyone is seem and treated as an economic unit. That is why, I argue, they like abortion and euthanasia so much. Abortion allows women to continue to work, and euthanasia allows the State to rid itself of non-productive useless eaters.
Harsh, but history supports my belief.
August 21, 2026
Once again, my comment disappears into thin air.
August 21, 2026
KfL,
It happens to everyone – except Lifelogic.
August 21, 2026
From Guido
“John Healey said:
“Fiscal discipline is the bedrock of our UK economic stability and national security which is why we are committed to meeting our fiscal rules, with a buffer against global uncertainties.
We are cutting the deficit faster than any other G7 economy, while giving people a bit of breathing space with cost of living pressures and focusing support to get young people into work.” ????
https://order-order.com/2026/08/21/borrowing-rises-above-forecasts-in-july/
You are ordered to believe that statement …. Does he mean. The State is Growing. The illegals are growing despite the UK Taxpayer paying France £668 million to stop it. Soaring welfare bill pushes national debt to almost £3tn Then we get Labours bonus growth – the black-hole.
Where oh where is the growth, the real earning growth to keep paying the bills coming from?
keep digging!
August 21, 2026
if the politicians really wanted to solve this they would talk to the senior members of the Salvation Army, THE ONLY organisation which has had any real sustained success nationwide, and internationally, helping this problem.
An organisation where even the most senior members on the payroll in the UK are only on modest salaries, like a proper charity should be.
August 21, 2026
At least the USA reminds us today about the continued betrayal of a lazy UK Parliament. The USA will over this weekend in Washington have a motor race to celebrate the people of the US being freed from the tyranny of a UK Parliament that denied them Democracy! ‘The Freedom 250’ race will take place around the streets of Washington to celebrate the people becoming a free democracy.
250 years on and the UK Parliament still denies real democracy for its own people – they never learn, they don’t get it. They still think it is just about them and only them, their ego knows no bounds.
Lets ‘talk’ about the homeless it deflects from the need for an economy
August 21, 2026
To be fair, we have only had so called democracy in this country (ie the right for all men and women to vote) for just over 100 years. But even that right has been watered down by a Parliament and Civil Service whose loyalty is to the Crown and NOT the people. They (MP’s) are not employed to do our bidding. They (MP’s) are employed to listen to and air our grievances’ to the Crown / CS. They latter of which can ignore us.
August 21, 2026
@Mark B – the fault-line and the misrepresentation by those that find there way into ‘our’ Houses of Parliament
August 21, 2026
@Mark B – I wonder how it would go down in the country, if it was suggested that there should be taxation without representation.
August 21, 2026
Mel Stride: Tories will never again put the economy at risk like Liz Truss. The speech from the Liberal Democrat Chancellor in waiting?
This UK Parliament cant read the room, they all play to an audience, the one(just the one) in the mirror and pat themselves on the back for a good job.
(sarc)
Reply Liz Truss against my advice proposed a large and unaffordable spending increase when cuts were needed. Mel Stride is right to set out £23 bn of spending cuts in contrast to the Truss huge giveaways.
August 21, 2026
Liz Truss reacted to the “something must be done” brigade by putting in place mechanisms to subsidise gas and electricity costs. These costs may otherwise have crippled too many people’s finances so it was a judgement call to fund it.
At the same time her Chancellor proposed tax cuts for companies and high earners and a radical approach to the country’s finances which I recall being cheered in the house at the time.
The Bank of England then sold off their gilts and created a run of some pension funds which in turn increased interest rates substanitally.
The Conservative party then went into retreat from its earlier cheers and deposed her and her Chancellor.
How much better off would we be now if she had stayed in post along with her Chancellor.
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak’s administration gave away money to all like confetti but they kept the narrative positive and the markets on board with Bank of England assistance.
That is my recollection of those times Lord Redwood.
August 21, 2026
@Narrow Shoulders – scape goat comes to mind because she exposed the failures of others. Turn it on its head how is it going remaining in a doom loop of failure that is the only thing all the detractors can get their heads around?
August 21, 2026
Good morning,
I would disagree with the PM’s belief mentioned towards the end of the above. Homelessness is very much on the rise. As more and more people enter the country, both legally and illegally, homes and beds are taken up forcing those who are in genuine needs to sleep rough.
—-
Off topic albeit slightly.
I have just found out that, as from 2024, NHS England is obliged to provide medical and dental treatment, including prescription’s for up to 3 months, to those whose asylum application’s have failed. So even if we were to actually deport someone, the UK taxpayer still has to pay for any medication they may need for said period.
You really cannot make this stuff up.
August 21, 2026
Oh they can make it up ok, and given the shortages of NHS Dentists they will probably get to the front of the queue as well.
Only in the UK would this be possible.
\ur Governments stupidity knows no bounds.
August 21, 2026
We should not forget the other fsteful decision already taken by the new PM Burnham.
His edict that bus fares should be capped at £2 has enabled those not wanting to be rounded up and thrown in the sleep pound are able to use some of their change to bus their way out of his area.
Sleeping under the stars has not been this desirable, well never since Greta Garbo first revealed how uplifting for her career sleeping under the stars had been….
August 21, 2026
Trying again. Does our new PM engage his brain before opening his mouth? There are already concerns that he does not have sufficient taxpayers’ money to fund his pledge to house rough sleepers by Christmas. Let us credit him with a good heart, but he did not solve the problem in Manchester, so how can he solve it nationwide?
Also, it is a local government issue, so much for devolution then.
No such comment on Immigration, legal and illegal, just a promise to spread them around the UK more fairly. So we now know he has no intention of tackling the key problem for most voters: simply too many coming in!
The impression from these first five weeks is that the PM is majoring on the minors, and that nthere is no real toughness and leadership, which is what the UK needs.
August 21, 2026
Over the years I have talked to many homeless people,that is the ones begging outside stores.What seems to be a general theme is that when they go to the Town Hall,they are not given any consideration ,are told that they are out of area,given addresses where there is abuse and strong drug abuse.
If all approached the Town hall to save dying of cold,the right people should be able to give them help . Alternatively if illegal immigrants were to approach the Town hall ,they could be more easily traced.
August 21, 2026
‘In England, an estimated 4,793 people slept rough on a single night in autumn 2025’ out of a population of 69.5 million …..of those rough sleeping that are immigrants/illegals UNKNOWN
August 21, 2026
Let’s face it. We’ve swapped a traitor for an idiot.