Burnham faces Commons as PM for first time after six weeks

Andy Burnham will address the House of Commons as Prime Minister today, six weeks after taking office. GB News reports this is his first appearance before MPs since becoming PM in late July. The Independent says he will tell the Commons he wants to "bring back hope", while the Express carries reports of a "huge nationalisation demand".

The delay itself is the story. Every Prime Minister since Churchill has faced the Commons within days of appointment - usually the day after kissing hands. The six-week gap between office and accountability is without modern precedent. The Mirror reports Burnham will chair Cabinet before the statement; GB News notes Treasury minister Darren Jones has warned against public spending as a path to wealth.

The nationalisation question cuts both ways. GB News reports Burnham "can't backtrack" on a pay rise for train drivers - the implication being that public ownership comes with public-sector pay discipline, or it comes with neither. The Independent says the PM will seek "greater public control of services" - control being the word doing work here, not ownership. One implies accountability; the other implies cost. The two don't always arrive together.

What to watch: whether the Commons appearance becomes a regular fixture or remains an exception. The six-week gap has set a precedent; whether it becomes the norm is the test of parliamentary government.