The CrossbencherSunday, 2 August 2026
A free daily email on British politics that answers to no party.
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Burnham says devolution requires written constitutionAndy Burnham has argued that Britain needs a written constitution following the government's devolution push. The Mayor of Greater Manchester told GB News that the UK's lack of a codified constitution "disempowers" citizens.
The Guardian reports Burnham believes devolution plans strengthen the case for constitutional reform. The Independent carries his claim that current arrangements leave power too centralised. The Daily Express frames the intervention as part of a broader political strategy.
The timing is deliberate. The government is negotiating dev…The Crossbencher Newsdesk
Defence Secretary warns supermarkets not to exploit Iran crisis on pricesJohn Healey has warned supermarkets not to use the Iran conflict as cover for price rises. GB News reports he is ready to "clamp down" on price-gougin…
Trump calls off Iran strikes, says deal must come rapidlyDonald Trump has cancelled planned military strikes on Iran, saying the move is conditional on Tehran making a deal "rapidly". GB News reports the str…
Burnham says devolution plan makes case for written constitutionAndy Burnham has argued that the government's devolution plans strengthen the case for a written UK constitution. The Guardian and the Financial Times…Top stories
FIFA chief faces calls to resign as governing crisis deepensGianni Infantino, president of FIFA, is under mounting pressure following criticism of controversial plans that have prompted a boycott from UEFA and drawn rebuke from political figures.
The Daily Mail reports that Andy Burnham h…
Burnham wants mayors to keep income tax - the centre rarely lets goAndy Burnham has called for metro mayors to receive a share of income tax raised in their regions, arguing the money should be used to "empower" local areas rather than fund short-term tax cuts. The proposal has drawn criticism in…
Labour holds Greater Manchester as Bev Craig succeeds BurnhamLabour's Bev Craig has won the Greater Manchester mayoral by-election, called after Andy Burnham's departure from the role. The Guardian reports a decisive victory; The Independent describes it as dominant over Reform UK.
The by-…All the news →
FIFA chief faces calls to resign as governing crisis deepensGianni Infantino, president of FIFA, is under mounting pressure following criticism of controversial plans that have prompted a boycott from UEFA and drawn rebuke from political figures.
The Daily Mail reports that Andy Burnham h…Burnham wants mayors to keep income tax - the centre rarely lets goAndy Burnham has called for metro mayors to receive a share of income tax raised in their regions, arguing the money should be used to "empower" local areas rather than fund short-term tax cuts. The proposal has drawn criticism in…Labour holds Greater Manchester as Bev Craig succeeds BurnhamLabour's Bev Craig has won the Greater Manchester mayoral by-election, called after Andy Burnham's departure from the role. The Guardian reports a decisive victory; The Independent describes it as dominant over Reform UK.
The by-…The flagship
The Civic Grid
Everything with power and money over your patch, on one map - who runs it, what it costs, what changed. Fifty years deep, and every figure carries its receipt.
or explore the whole country, and scroll back through the years →This week’s essayAll editorial →
Once and For All, AgainA new Prime Minister has made social care his mission, and the talks are cross-party. Britain has answered this question four times since 1999. The answer was never the missing piece. The cheque was.The Crossbencher · an opinion of the house
No Past TenseWe went back to 374 news articles we had already saved. A hundred and sixty-nine of them had changed. An argument about what the press said cannot be …
Nobody Can Tell You What It CostsIn six hours on a single Wednesday, one bus fare cap cost £500 million, then £454 million, and was both fully funded and not yet worked out. No outlet…
By Its Own NumbersA third runway at Heathrow is sold as growth for the whole country. The government's own appraisal puts that growth at up to 0.05 per cent of GDP a ye…Our top arguments
The Fund We Never BuiltBritain and Norway found the same sea of oil at the same time and did opposite things with the money. One built the largest fund in the world; the other spent it as it arrived. The difference was not luck, and it was not virtue. I…
The Norman YokeFor three centuries, the claim that England's elite was a foreign occupation was the radical left's founding story. Today the same argument is coded far right. The evidence, inconveniently, never moved.
The words have stopped workingLeft and right still tell you which team someone is on. They no longer tell you what anyone believes - and the gap between those two jobs is where Britain's worst arguments live.
The Fund We Never BuiltBritain and Norway found the same sea of oil at the same time and did opposite things with the money. One built the largest fund in the world; the other spent it as it arrived. The difference was not luck, and it was not virtue. I…The Norman YokeFor three centuries, the claim that England's elite was a foreign occupation was the radical left's founding story. Today the same argument is coded far right. The evidence, inconveniently, never moved.The words have stopped workingLeft and right still tell you which team someone is on. They no longer tell you what anyone believes - and the gap between those two jobs is where Britain's worst arguments live.Watch - The Crossbencher on film
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