Be serious, PM

Andy Burnham yesterday set aside his toe-curling TikTok posts to grant his inaugural live television interview since taking office at No10.

His conduct over Brexit, according to critics, adds further proof that the Prime Minister is not trustworthy.

In another display of inconsistency, he faulted leaving the EU for the small-boats issue, saying, "We can't return people."

Commentators call this high-level nonsense, noting that even while the UK remained in the bloc, the system for sending asylum seekers back to the EU was ineffective.

During the five years up to 2020, the Home Office sent back only 1,972 of the tens of thousands who entered the country illegally, yet it accepted 5,176 migrants from EU states - three times as many. Critics ask how that could be considered a good deal.

Burnham has also tangled himself over a possible return to the EU's freedom of movement.

If he truly expects the public to welcome unrestricted migration from Europe, observers say he misreads the 2016 referendum outcome.

Such a move, they argue, would jeopardise employment prospects, wages, housing, public services and social cohesion for British workers.

Within hours of his GMB sofa appearance, Downing Street hurriedly claimed the Prime Minister only sought an "evidence-based debate" on freedom of movement and held no firm position. Many find this unconvincing.

Critics suggest Burnham should focus on tackling the nation's deep-rooted challenges rather than offering more ill-thought witterings and banal social-media videos that have characterised his first 100 days.

Not give us more of the ill-thought-out witterings and banal social media videos that have marked his first 100 days.

Doing his duty?

IT sounds like there may be some welcome relief for our hard-pressed readers in tomorrow's Budget.

All indications point to John Healey freezing fuel duty and retaining the 5p cut, which would spare workers, firms and families further pain at the pumps.

The Chancellor appears to have responded to the Keep It Down campaign.

Some will argue the measures should go further, noting that driver misery at forecourts has generated billions of pounds of extra revenue for the Treasury.

Let's see if there is anything else worth cheering in the Budget.

Sickening

HOW do the hardliners at the British Medical Association sleep at night?

Average NHS consultant salaries stand at £150,000, yet the union's hard-left faction claims this is insufficient.

They are demanding an immediate £16,000 raise and a 35-hour workweek, planning a two-day strike next month to press the Government they view as weak.

Consultant doctors are meant to save lives, not put more in danger.