Darren Jones says bond markets should be ‘content’ with Burnham’s economic plans – UK politics live | Politics

Good morning. There are very few upsides for Keir Starmer for his current situation, but one of them is that soon he will no longer have to worry about taking PMQs. In his memoir, Tony Blair described PMQs as “the most nerve-racking, discombobulating, nail-biting, bowel-moving, terror-inspiring, courage draining experience in my prime ministerial life, without question”. Today’s could be Starmer’s third last. Including today, there are four Wednesdays between now and Friday 17 July, when Andy Burnham is due to become PMQs, but one of them coincides with the Nato summit, and Starmer should be away for that.

While we will hear from Starmer at PMQs, interest in what he has to say may be limited. Power is like water on a surface with a slope; it very quickly heads in one direction and, despite only being sworn in as an MP on Monday afternoon, Andy Burnham is already the most powerful figure in Westminster, and most of the political class is focused on what sort of administration he might lead. There have been three developments overnight.

• It has emerged that Burnham will appoint James Purnell, who served in cabinet with him under Gordon Brown, as his chief of staff. Here is our story, by Kiran Stacey and Jessica Elgot.

• Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the PM, has announced that he will not stand as a leadership candidate against Burnham. He had been refusing to rule this out, and some Starmer loyalists were urging him to run. Ben Quinn has the story.

• Burnham has decided not to keep on Rachel Reeves as chancellor, the BBC is reporting. This has not been officially confirmed, but it does not come as a big surprise and the BBC has had a briefing that means they are reporting this with some confidence.

Jones announced his decision in an interview with Sky’s Beth Rigby. The idea that he might launch a leadership challenge never seemed particularly likely in the first place and what is perhaps most interesting about the interview is the fact that Jones now seems confident that a Burnham government won’t abandon fiscal responsibility. Jones was Reeves’ deputy at the Treasury until last autumn, he supported her drive to keep borrowing under control and in the interview he says he was being encouraged to stand by Labour MPs worried about Burnham’s economic policies. He also says he spoke to Burnham on Monday – which means he probably has a better idea of how Burnham would run the economy than most people.

Jones suggested that Burnham might raise borrowing a bit, but that he would do so in line with the fiscal rules, which Burnham has said he will keep. Jones said it was possible to “to borrow a little bit more” within the fiscal rules.

Here is the key exchange between Rigby (BR) and Jones (DJ).

BR: So you would be happy for [Burnham] to borrow more, to invest in specific projects.

DJ: And I think that’s what the market and the trade unions and the parliamentary Labour party wants. Because if you’ve got a credible plan for how investment can stimulate economic output, then that is something we’ll do well.

BR: And did he say to you that’s what he intended to do?

DJ: Yeah, we talked about a lot of these details, and he was interested in the ideas I was putting forward – the ways in which the Treasury works well and sometimes doesn’t work well. Some of the delivery challenges I’ve been trying to tackle across government as chief secretary to the prime minister. And I think Andy just wants to bring the party together, come in and show delivery for the public as we gear up for the next general election.

BR: To be clear, he said to you in these conversations where you were seeking reassurances over economic policy that he was looking to borrow more to invest in certain infrastructure investment projects.

DJ: We talked about the things that I had read about in the media. So, for example, council house building, and we had that conversation. I mean, he didn’t go into specifics with me about particular spending priorities, but as I say, there is a route to doing that in a way which is in line with the fiscal rules and maintains economic stability.

Later Rigby asked Jones if he thought the bond markets would be happy with a Burnham government (ie – they would not raise borrowing costs out of concerns spending was about to get out of hand), or if he thought it would all depend on who he appointed as chancellor. Jones replied:

I think I think they can be content and I think this can be done in the right way. Andy’s going to have to set out who his team is and what the policy platform is. But that’s the discussion we had today on the fundamental principles around that.

Rigby asked Jones if he was “reassured”. And Jones replied:

I was reassured, yeah.

I will post more from the interview soon.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Louise Casey, chair of the independent commission on adult social care, gives evidence to the Commons health committee about her review. Stephen Kinnock, the care minister, gives evidence at 10.30am.

10am: The grooming gangs inquiry makes an announcement about the next phase of its work.

10.15am: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leaders, takes part in a Q&A at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference.

11.45am: Donna Ockenden’s report into failings at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust is published. Later there will be a ministerial statement in the Commons.

Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.

2.20pm: Bridget Phillipson, the women and equalities minister, gives evidence to the Commons women and equalities committee.

Afternoon: Starmer flies to Berlin for a meeting of the E5 (the UK, France, Germany, Poland and Italy) to discuss need for more European and Nato support for Ukraine and the Middle East. A press conference is expected at 5pm (UK time).

If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.

If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.

I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.