Burnham pledges to 'return Labour they once knew' as he inherits £58bn welfare bill and defence crisis

Andy Burnham declared he was 'ready to lead' and promised to return 'the Labour Party they once knew' as he was crowned leader on Friday — but the next prime minister faces a series of formidable challenges. A Survation poll showed Labour had drawn level with Reform UK at 24%, its highest since November, after a five-point surge. As Sir Keir Starmer formally recommends Burnham to the King on Monday, he will inherit a working-age disability benefits bill that has grown to £58bn a year since the pandemic and is forecast to hit £78bn by 2030. Sir Stephen Timms, the disability minister, has accepted in an interim report that Personal Independence Payments are 'not fit for purpose'. Burnham has said he wants to reduce the welfare bill by encouraging people into work and not through 'crude cuts'. But any reform risks backlash from disability groups and Labour MPs. Defence spending is another flashpoint: the government’s long-awaited Defence Investment Plan, published in June, only takes spending to 2.7% of GDP by 2030 and is not fully funded. Pressure is mounting to lift it to 3%, costing an extra £9bn a year. Former defence secretary John Healey resigned over the issue, and his successor Dan Jarvis — who has served just six weeks — is expected to be removed when Burnham chooses his top team on Monday. Wes Streeting, Burnham’s former Labour leadership rival, is under discussion as his replacement. One Labour MP with a security background said it was 'difficult to think of anyone better qualified' than Jarvis, and that another upheaval was 'not in the interest of the military at all'. Burnham has promised to set a political direction that is 'distinctively Labour' and not 'out-Green the Greens or out-Reform Reform'. He laid out five pledges: build a new Labour culture, a new politics, be a leader for all of the UK, change Labour’s political direction, and decentralise Whitehall and Westminster. He also vowed to fix social care, saying the party must focus on problem solving rather than point scoring. Labour MPs have formed a squad to ensure Burnham keeps a key pledge to create one million jobs in production over the next decade as part of a reindustrialisation strategy. The Conservatives have accused Labour of 'running scared' after cancelling a vote that would have forced Burnham to appear before parliament on Monday. Kevin Hollinrake, the party chair, said: 'Andy Burnham says he has a plan, so what is it? It's not too late for Andy Burnham to do the right thing, make a statement, and answer questions.' Inside his own party, left-wing MP Rachael Maskell has backed Burnham and wants to see Ed Miliband as chancellor. Burnham admitted this was his party's 'last chance for change' because it hadn’t been good enough.