Burnham government faces north and south pressure over Jackdaw gas decision

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to approve the controversial Jackdaw North Sea gas field within weeks, according to the Mirror, setting up an early test of his government's energy stance. The decision comes as the Express publishes multiple pieces arguing Burnham has already lost momentum, describing his approach as supine foot-dragging and urging him to reset relations with rural Britain.

The Guardian's Owen Jones writes that Burnham presents his administration as more leftwing than it is, arguing it has barely moved from the centre ground. The same paper carries Diane Taylor on the government's asylum policy, asking why the UK has deployed drones, teargas and riot squads against people already fleeing conflict. The Express also criticises Burnham for inaction on Ed Miliband's energy policy, which it says will harm the country this winter.

The framing from opposing directions is itself the story. On energy, Burnham faces the familiar trap: approve Jackdaw and draw fire from the environmental left; reject it and confirm the accusation that Labour governments strangle domestic production while importing the same fuel from abroad. On asylum enforcement, the question is whether visible force at the border - drones and riot squads - represents necessary control or performative cruelty, and whether the dividing line still tracks party at all.

What to watch: the Jackdaw decision when it lands, and whether Burnham can hold both flanks or whether early movement on either energy or enforcement sets the pattern for how his government is read.