Recess Shields Burnham From the Commons Until September
The new Prime Minister will face no Commons scrutiny for six weeks, with Parliament in its summer recess until 1 September and his first Prime Minister’s Questions not due until then. The Conservatives, who tried and failed to delay the recess so Mr Burnham could be questioned on taking office, accused Labour of “running scared”. A government majority of more than 150 blocked the motion, leaving Tuesday’s funding row to play out online rather than on the floor of the House.
The timing is fortuitous for a leader who seized power through an internal contest rather than a general election, and whose opening policy is already under fire. The shadow leader of the Commons, Jesse Norman, said the government “could not bear the idea of a new prime minister facing any scrutiny before September”, while Kemi Badenoch called the blocking of the Tory vote “unprecedented”. MPs had already been due to rise on 16 July, but ministers’ refusal to extend sitting hardened the impression of a Prime Minister avoiding accountability. The Speaker retains the power to recall Parliament in the public interest. Until then, Mr Burnham governs by announcement, insulated from the despatch box just as questions over his sums multiply.