See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy QUENTIN LETTS, PARLIAMENTARY SKETCHWRITER Published: 16:48 BST, 1 July 2026 | Updated: 16:58 BST, 1 July 2026
Where was Andy Burnham? In a few days he will become our unelected prime minister but again there was no sight of him in the Commons for PMQs. Last week some people said his non-appearance was a sign of respect to Sir Keir Starmer, who had just announced his resignation. Had Eyelashes Andy been in the chamber it might have seemed he was gloating, apparently.This week there was no such explanation for our new ruler's absence. He has become the Invisible Man, a scented vacuum, some distant nimbus on the north-western horizon. Brother Ectoplasm. Parliament's answer to the Sycamore Gap.Sir Keir, who looks happier since he accepted the inevitable, was asked by Kemi Badenoch if Mr Burnham had accepted the Government's Defence Investment Plan. Specifically, had Eyelashes 'agreed to fund the shortfall' of £5billion that the Opposition claims to have spotted in that plan?Sir Keir did not answer that directly. He just said the Plan had been 'delivered outside the budget' and that the shortfall would be paid for from 'headroom'. I must tell my wife to try those arguments next time she has one of her tricky meetings with our bank manager at Lloyds. 'Delivered outside the budget' is a fine phrase. Bankrupts across the world will alight on it.With Mr Burnham having stayed away from PMQs, he could not rise to tell the House – and therefore the country – what he thought of defence spending. Nor could we see his expression and posture for evidence of discomfort or otherwise. An invisible man cannot be scrutinised or held to account. This has a short-term political benefit in that it saves him becoming snared in a row. But absence is also unwise, for it allows uncertainty and unhappiness to procreate. It leaves Labour's backbenchers leaderless at a time when they are desperate for impetus.Young Jack Abbott (Ipswich), ambitious and reasonably bright, looked exhausted. For two years he has sucked up to a system that is now vanishing. Jolly bad luck. Now he must apply his suction nozzles to an entirely different leadership team. In a few days Andy Burnham will become our unelected prime minister but again there was no sight of him in the Commons for PMQs Sir Keir, who looks happier since he accepted the inevitable, was asked by Kemi Badenoch if Mr Burnham had accepted the Government's Defence Investment Plan but did not answer her question directly, writes Quentin LettsLola McEvoy (Darlington), another new MP who seems fairly clued-up, gazed at the tip of her right index finger, as one might casually examine the point of a poignard. Pam Cox (Colchester) drifted away to a world of her own. Even that indomitable soul Dame Emily Thornberry, who chairs the foreign affairs select committee, looked deflated. The dame's dimples had vanished. Her hairdo had slipped – imagine Kenneth More after a hard night. To see her dameship thus becalmed, muted and wan, was sad. Big Bertha rusting in the sidings. The Graf Zeppelin with a slow puncture.Sir Keir teased the Lib Dems for being more interested in golf courses than hospitals. Alex Ballinger (Lab, Halesowen) tried to mention some England footballer but forgot the man's name. Catherine West (Lab, Hornsey), who once threatened to stand against Sir Keir, told the PM how widely he was respected. The House laughed at her. But it all felt pointless.Since he took the oath in Westminster last week Mr Burnham has not uttered a word in debates. Is he in important meetings? We are not told. Nor may reporters, or those who are admitted to his royal presence, ask. The only trace of activity from 'the Member for Makerfield' (as everyone refers to him) was on TikTok, where he posted a childish film about designs for a 'No10 in the North'. Do they mean No10 Rillington Place?Several other 'big names' were missing. Ed Miliband, Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner and Shabana Mahmood, all of whom will reportedly serve in the Burnham government, were also absent. This is strange. It feels improper. Slightly ominous. A tsunami may be about to hit Westminster yet the kiddies still frolic in rockpools with their buckets and spades. The sandpipers prance and the beach bar plays Begin the Beguine. And they think we won't mind because we're only voters.
