The UK’s new left-wing Prime Minister Andy Burnham has his priorities. The Labour leader is only weeks into the job and already facing a flood of illegal migrants crossing the English Channel and uproar over an early release scheme designed to empty prisons and send offenders back into the community.
So on Wednesday the climate doomer – who has only just returned from holidays – will chair his first meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee.
The sole item on the agenda is the weather with a disposable barbecue ban reportedly under urgent consideration to help diminish fire risks during the long, hot summer.
The BBC reports the move follows a No 10 spokesperson saying the government is really, really concerned firefighters, farmers and NHS staff were all facing challenges connected to the hot weather and decided something must be done.
As the committee meets, other challenges have already presented themselves to the new Burnham administration after a chaotic week but will remain unmentioned in the background.
Specifically, as Breitbart News reported, people smugglers delivered a single mega-dinghy carrying 230 illegal migrants across the English Channel from France early Monday morning.
The illicit human cargo came ashore near Dover.
The boatload of young men and boys of similar age represented the largest-ever number recorded to make the journey in a single vessel, as the UK government warned yet again such “reckless and dangerous tactics employed by criminal gangs” will not be tolerated.
Meanwhile the BBC reports the chief inspector of probation for England and Wales has told the outlet the early release of thousands of prisoners could lead to “a serious sexual or violent offence or even murder” because of the demands on probation staff to monitor offenders.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham (C) and UK Housing Secretary Angela Rayner (R) are very concerned about vape shops. Less so about mass illegal immigration and prisoners being released en masse into the community. Here they are seen during a visit on August 11, 2026 in Ilkeston, England. ( Toby Shepheard – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
The government is set to release 5,000 offenders from October as part of new laws to create more space in overcrowded prisons.
On Tuesday, 50 police chiefs across the UK signed a letter to the prime minister urging him to pursue “every legal option” to prevent the early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers under the scheme.
For his part, Reform leader Nigel Farage has already addressed the crisis and offered a solution.
A Reform party spokesman said up to 5,000 “dangerous criminals” stand to be released early in the coming months, and 70,000 have already been released over the last two years of Labour rule.
Burnham has indicated he is considering his options on the mass release and may well change his mind while seeking fresh options.
No timeline was given for the new considerations by the former regional mayor.