Record channel crossing as Burnham faces PC Harper killers release question

A mega dinghy carrying migrants crossed the Channel, smashing the previous single-boat record, the Daily Mail reports. The crossing comes as the government maintains its policy to "smash the gangs" is working.

Downing Street has admitted it can't prevent the early release of PC Andrew Harper's killers from prison, the Independent reports. The question has been put to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, with the Guardian asking what he could do to block the release. PC Harper was killed on duty; his killers' sentences fell under early-release provisions the country is now watching closely.

The machinery here is instructive. Early release is a standing mechanism, designed when prisons were full and governments wanted the problem off the front page without building cells. It works automatically - ministers set the eligibility, the Parole Board assesses risk, and the system releases. That a Prime Minister is now being asked whether he can intervene tells you how far the policy has travelled from public expectation. The power to override sits with the Justice Secretary in narrow circumstances; whether it will be used is the next question.

Meanwhile, Burnham faces pressure on other fronts: GB News accuses him of "running away" from Britain's biggest issues, and the Daily Express urges him to end the scandal of shops refusing cash - a standing grievance where legal tender meets private discretion and the state has mostly looked away.

What to watch: whether the Justice Secretary intervenes on the Harper case, and whether the mega dinghy crossing prompts any visible change to channel enforcement.