{"success":true,"data":{"id":"e4546460-dbf4-428b-9e66-714df522aaad","title":"Andy Burnham week one: promises, pitfalls and the prison problem","summary":"US Edition Change Support Now × \"Clear search box\") Custom Search Sort by Relevance Date NewsNews World CupWorld Cup SportsSports CultureCulture LifestyleLifestyle MoneyMoney TravelTravel PremiumPremium More More Thank you for registering Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the si...","content":"US Edition Change\n\nSupport Now\n\n[×](javascript:void(0) \"Clear search box\")\n\nCustom Search\n\nSort by\n\nRelevance\n\nDate\n\n*   News[News](https://www.independent.co.uk/us)\n\n*   World Cup[World Cup](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup)\n\n*   Sports[Sports](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport)\n\n*   Culture[Culture](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment)\n\n*   Lifestyle[Lifestyle](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style)\n\n*   Money[Money](https://www.independent.co.uk/us/money)\n\n*   Travel[Travel](https://www.independent.co.uk/us/travel)\n\n*   Premium[Premium](https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium)\n\nMore\n\nMore\n\n### Thank you for registering\n\nPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in\n\n## Showing now |In The Room\n\n35:46\n\n[Helen MacNamara](https://www.independent.co.uk/author/helen-macnamara)&[Cleo Watson](https://www.independent.co.uk/author/cleo-watson)Friday 24 July 2026 17:03 BST\n\n*   Copy link  \n\n## Bookmark popover\n\nRemoved from bookmarks\n\nClose popover\n\n# Andy Burnham week one: promises, pitfalls and the prison problem\n\n[Andy Burnham](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/andy-burnham) has survived his first week.\n\nThe former [Manchester](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/manchester) mayor turned prime minister is now in his spiritual home – No.10 North – after repeatedly calling it the best day of his life.\n\nIt's been a week of 6am policy drops, wall-to-wall coverage and Burnham firmly at the centre of every story.\n\nBut Helen and Cleo aren't just here to admire the opening moves. They want to know whether the presidential style is already tipping into hubris, what the prison U-turn actually signals about the government underneath the announcements – and perhaps most importantly of all… why does he keep hugging everybody?\n\nNew episodes of [In The Room](https://www.independent.co.uk/podcasts/intheroom) drop twice a week. You can listen on [Apple Podcasts](http://redirect.viglink.com/?&key=5b1a6400a3c0d931ed2037885e1a27a3&u=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fin-the-room%2Fid1875349411&cuid=b3021142) and [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/51uiRVMiB5vzq0fZQNiyEf).","source_name":"The Independent","source_url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/in-the-room/andy-burnham-prisons-vat-prime-minister-b3021142.html","url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/in-the-room/andy-burnham-prisons-vat-prime-minister-b3021142.html","author":"Helen MacNamara and Cleo Watson","author_name":"Helen MacNamara and Cleo Watson","published_at":"2026-07-24T16:03:26.000Z","publication_date":"2026-07-24T16:03:26.000Z","image_url":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/XYBHMbJL/poster.jpg?width=720","category":"world","topic":"world","tags":[],"political_bias":null,"bias_score":null,"confidence_score":null,"credibility_score":null,"factual_quality":null,"reading_time":2,"word_count":223,"view_count":0,"breaking":false,"breaking_news":false,"ai_analysis":null,"fact_check_status":"unverified","archive_status":"hot","language":null}}