AS I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t nominate Andy Burnham to be Prime Minister - not because I have anything against him – I just didn’t know his policy direction and I’m a little old fashioned in that I believe that loyalty to leadership is earned through hard work and delivery, rather than transferred from one leader to the next. But I have to say, so far I have been very impressed in his first six weeks. As well as squeezing in a visit to Cornwall in his first full month, over the summer the Government has begun delivering on its mission to bring back hope, and there has been a flurry of interesting policy announcements, through four key themes:

Firstly, ‘Room to breathe’ - the Prime Minister has taken action to provide breathing space on the cost of living and to put money in people’s pockets in the immediate term. This has included announcements including: £2 bus fare cap; free bus travel for disabled people; abolition of VAT on Domestic Energy Bills; and 20 per cent reduction in business rates for pubs, clubs and live music in England.

Secondly, ‘Power to communities’ - the Prime Minister has committed to taking power and resources out of Westminster and putting it back into local communities through devolution. We have heard more on Cornish devolution in the last six weeks than we heard in the previous two years and between the Cornish MPs, the Council and Government, there is now a meaningful momentum to discussions. But Government has also announced new powers for local communities to shape their high streets with the revoking of the Aim to Permit legislation, the introduction of planning permission for vape shops and increased powers of local enforcement agencies to close shops linked to crime.

Thirdly, ‘Britain better off’- the Prime Minister has committed to backing British business and industry, creating new jobs, delivering growth in every postcode and reindustrialising Britain. This has included: the launch of the Government Jobs Guarantee Scheme for long-term unemployed young people across the UK; bursaries of £4,500 per year for some young people on Universal Credit to support them to take up apprenticeships; investment to create 22,000 additional places across colleges and post-16 providers; and new technical education routes for 14 to 19 year olds.

And fourthly, ‘Britain believing in itself again’ - the Prime Minister has committed this Government to delivering a brighter future and reinstalling the hope that we can finally fix some of the most difficult issues facing the country that have been ignored for too long. This includes £10-billion pledged to build 70,000 homes in the first tranche of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme, and a commitment to provide everyone with a route off the street by Christmas as well as 159 new facilities opening to ensure adults get timely and appropriate support for mental health issues.

And as children head back to school, from this September, 500,000 more will also have access to free breakfast clubs, yet another example of the change that this Labour Government is delivering.