Andy Burnham is to give England's metro mayors the power to overrule councils on major planning applications, under proposals trailed to the Sunday papers that would cover schemes of more than 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of commercial space or buildings over 30 metres. The plan, which extends to 13 combined authority areas powers already held by the Mayor of London, drew immediate opposition attacks on local democracy from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. This is UKFCP's 24 hours in politics round-up.
Parliament is in recess and the Commons will next sit on 1 September, leaving a weekend of briefings, interviews and statements rather than proceedings. A consultation on the mayoral powers is due next week, and Burnham faces his first Labour conference as prime minister in Liverpool next month.
Mayors handed call-in powers over planning
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the powers were an "essential part of the toolkit" available to mayors to deliver new homes and regeneration. Alongside the call-in power, mayors would be able to grant "up-front permission" allowing building to start without a developer applying, and would gain greater influence over how housing funding is spent, with Homes England expected to weight local mayoral priorities more heavily.
Pennycook conceded the 1.5 million homes target was "really stretching" but said a smaller one would not match a challenge that includes nearly 180,000 children in temporary accommodation. Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly said ministers were "stripping councils across the country of their ability to make planning decisions in their own communities". The Liberal Democrats' Gideon Amos called the plan "a direct attack on communities across the country". Ministers said councils would still determine most applications.
Iran-linked hackers blamed for power plant shutdown
A small British power plant was shut down for four days in July after a cyberattack attributed to hackers linked to Iran, first reported by The Telegraph on Saturday night and carried widely on Sunday. It is believed to be the first successful Iranian-linked attack to force a UK electricity-generating facility offline. Officials declined to identify the site on security grounds.
A government spokesperson said the incident involved a small-scale energy generator and that "at no point was there a risk to the wider energy system". The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said it had briefed energy chief executives, written to companies with advice and is updating its cybersecurity regulations. Ministers have not attributed the attack on the record. The National Cyber Security Centre, which handled more than 200 attacks on critical national infrastructure in the past year, declined to comment.
Russia withdraws its ambassador to London
Russia has withdrawn its ambassador to the UK, Andrey Kelin, who left his posting on 21 July after seven years in London, with no successor named. The embassy's list of senior diplomatic staff now shows only Vasily Tsyganov as chargé d'affaires. Britain's ambassador to Russia, Nigel Casey, remains in post in Moscow.
An embassy spokesperson said Kelin had made "considerable efforts to preserve contacts and channels of communication", accused the government of choosing confrontation and said he had left "in the hope that a more constructive and respectful dialogue could eventually be restored". The story, broken by The Sunday Times, follows a warning from the embassy last week of "consequences" after it emerged Britain was supplying attack drones to Kyiv.
Labour grassroots line up Gaza fight at conference
Momentum, Labour & Palestine, the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign are circulating a model conference motion demanding the government accept a UN commission of inquiry finding that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, and impose comprehensive sanctions including a full arms embargo. The motion also calls for a ban on trade that "aids or assists" Israel's military actions or its presence in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Burnham apologised in July for the "huge hurt" caused by Labour's initial response to the war but has refused to use the word genocide. Several MPs told the Guardian they wanted him to go further. Organisers are casting the motion as a test of his pledge not to stifle internal debate; 30 Palestine motions from local parties were dismissed at last year's conference. Israel's foreign ministry has denounced the UN report as "distorted and false".
Also in the last 24 hours
- Onshore windfarm applications in England hit a ten-year high, with about 45 submitted in the year to March, according to a Guardian analysis of government data; a government spokesperson said a de facto ban had "held back onshore wind in England".
- CrossCountry cancelled almost all its services across the UK after a power outage at its Birmingham control centre, with passengers describing the disruption as the "worst case scenario".
- British travellers reported long queues and visa mix-ups under the EU's Entry/Exit System, which replaced passport stamping in April; IATA says checks that took 25 seconds can now take 90.
- The Guardian's Sunday editorial argued Burnham, who has focused on domestic policy, must now define Britain's place in the world.
- The House magazine published analysis arguing devolution should not stop at mayors and regions, ahead of next week's consultation.
The Commons returns on 1 September.
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