Burnham faces Commons as borrowing costs reach 30-year high

The Prime Minister appeared before MPs for the first time today, six weeks after taking office. Andy Burnham told the Commons he wanted to "bring back hope" as he faced questions on his government's programme.

The timing is awkward. UK borrowing costs have hit their highest level in almost three decades, according to the Daily Mail and Express, limiting the new government's room for manoeuvre. Defence Secretary John Healey has promised to increase military spending after fresh threats from Donald Trump regarding the Falklands, while the Independent reports a minister has made what it calls a "shocking admission" about early prisoner release plans.

The six-week gap is the thing. Parliamentary convention expects a new Prime Minister to face the House within days. Burnham took office in late July; this is the first week of September. The delay sits oddly with a party that spent years accusing its predecessors of dodging scrutiny. Whether the reason was diary management or deliberate staging, the optics are what they're: a government that arrived promising transparency has taken longer to meet Parliament than any incoming administration in living memory.

What to watch: the first Prime Minister's Questions under Burnham, expected next week, and the autumn Budget - which now arrives with borrowing costs at a level that makes every spending promise harder to deliver.