Andy Burnham used the opening of his national tour to hand councils new powers to block vape shops, betting shops and 24-hour adult gaming centres, in the first substantive domestic package of his premiership. Hours later a charity reported that nearly one in six people leaving prison in England and Wales last year were released into homelessness, putting his flagship pledge to end rough sleeping under strain. This is UKFCP's Tuesday 24 hours in politics round-up.
Parliament is in recess, so none of it was laid before MPs: the measures were briefed out of Downing Street on Monday evening for Tuesday's cycle. Burnham's government is three weeks old, and voters in Clacton go to the polls on Thursday.
Councils to get power to refuse vape shops and bookmakers
Under proposals put out to consultation, vape shops would become a separate category in planning law, so council permission is always needed; the "aim to permit" rule that limits councils' ability to refuse new betting shops would be scrapped across Great Britain; and adult gaming centres in England would require planning permission. Closure orders for shops selling illegal tobacco could be extended to 12 months in England and Wales.
Burnham said high streets had been "hollowed out and become unrecognisable over decades of decline", pointing to National Crime Agency estimates that at least £1bn of criminal cash is laundered through high street stores each year. The rules are expected to take effect at the start of next year, according to LBC.
Attacked from both directions
Reform UK's Robert Jenrick said the plan would fail without tax changes: "Until this Government scraps the jobs tax, addresses sky-high business rates and provides real, fundamental support for high street businesses, this policy will only create even more empty shops on our high streets."
Shadow communities secretary Sir James Cleverly blamed Labour's business rates rises and said the Conservatives would cut rates for high street firms. From the other flank, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson said the plans "could go up in a puff of smoke" without tougher powers, while the Greens called them "inadequate tinkering" and demanded rent controls for small businesses. The Betting and Gaming Council said local people should have "a proper say".
One in six prison leavers released homeless
An analysis by the charity Nacro found 15,155 people freed from prison in England and Wales between April 2025 and March 2026 had no housing — around 300 a week, an 18% rise on the previous year and the highest rate in five years. More than 1,300 women were released homeless or to rough sleeping, up 27%.
Nacro chief executive Enver Solomon said the proportion released without accommodation had risen every year for five years, from 10.6% in 2021-22 to 15.9%. Burnham promised in his first speech as prime minister to eradicate rough sleeping in England, with £340m over three years, but has since signed off the early release from October of about 5,000 prisoners.
Poll finds shared values but a 50% verdict on immigration
A large study of British values by Public First found hard work, fair play and community were the values voters instinctively identified as British, across party, age, class and region. Half of respondents said immigration had had a negative impact on the UK; only a fifth said a diversity of people and cultures made them proud to live here.
Sunder Katwala of British Future said the findings showed British people had become more divided and more "discomfited by how divided we feel", arguing that with no party polling above 25%, politicians were more likely to appeal to their base with divisive language.
Green MSP apologises over "spectrum" remarks
Scottish Green MSP Q Manivannan apologised after an open letter from the Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance, which represents four centres, said there was "no hierarchy of rape". In a podcast interview last year, Manivannan said there "definitely is a demonisation of rape" and that it was "a spectrum".
Manivannan said the clips had been "maliciously" edited but accepted responsibility for "abstract" language, adding: "I categorically stated that rape in every context is equally serious and harmful." The apology came hours after the Scottish Conservatives demanded co-leaders Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay withdraw the whip; equalities spokeswoman Meghan Gallacher called the remarks "beyond the pale".
Also on Tuesday
- Burnham said he was "increasingly confident" PC Andrew Harper's killers would not be freed early, with Justice Secretary Alex Norris to bring a plan to MPs in September.
- Former Home Office minister Jess Phillips told Sky News' Electoral Dysfunction that early release decisions should be based on "risk not feelings".
- An industry body called on Reform UK donor Arron Banks to set out the full extent of his use of private investigators against journalists, calling it an "attack on our democracy".
- A teenage boy was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker during anti-immigration disorder in Thetford.
- NHS England said deaths from hepatitis C had fallen 36% in a decade, putting England on course to be among the first countries to eliminate it.
- Istanbul overtook Heathrow as Europe's busiest airport, with Heathrow's Middle East route traffic down 20.2% year on year.
- A Coventry charity opened a uniform bank, saying new government limits on logoed items do not go far enough.
Clacton votes on Thursday, with a record 34 candidates on the ballot and Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens all standing aside.