Burnham's summer reprieve gives way to a reckoning over his spending plans

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham enters September with higher popularity than rivals Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch, but the political test is funding. After taking office in July, Burnham has focused on domestic measures and wants a 10-year programme to reform social care and end rough sleeping, while staying inside fiscal rules requiring day-to-day spending to be balanced with tax by decade end. With a budget set for October 28, Finance Minister John Healey says rules will be honoured, though both hint at using “flexibility” such as borrowing for investment and potential tax rises. A £4.7 billion gap in the Defence Investment Plan also looms.