Andy Burnham is doing everything he can to wipe out support for the Greens but Zack Polanski has his best chance yet to terrify Labour
If Zack Polanski can win the upcoming by-election in London then Labour will be terrified (Image: Getty Images)
Andy Burnham does not want to have to worry about the Greens when he fights the next general election. The looming by-election in Sir Keir Starmer’s old seat of Holborn and St Pancras could be a historic moment for the British Left. The decision of Green Party leader Zack Polanski to stand presents Labour with a threat and an opportunity.
If Mr Polanski wins big in the inner London seat which has been painted red since its creation in 1983, then the Greens will once again be seen as a threat to Labour on a par with the one posed by Reform UK to the Conservatives. If Mr Polanski enters the Commons, he will be able to challenge Mr Burnham directly in Prime Minister’s Questions.
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But if Labour’s candidate, Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali, can utterly crush the Green leader then it will look highly unlikely that his party will return to those heady springtime days when it tied with Labour and the Conservatives.
For decades, Labour campaigners have told Left-wingers on the doorstep that a general election is a straight choice between whether you want them or the Conservatives running the country; that if your priority is keeping the Right out of power – tough! – there is no other party to support.
Labour will face a crisis the next time the country goes to the polls if once-loyal supporters are still enamoured with the Greens. It will be hard to win back former Labour voters who have drifted to Reform; that challenge may be impossible if the party is also scrambling to stop voters on the Left peeling away to support Mr Polanski.
Mr Burnham needs to deal with the Green challenge without delay. If he can push their support down to single digits then his MPs will breathe a deep sigh of relief and they will feel that the gamble of replacing Sir Keir with the former Greater Manchester Mayor is paying off.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced sanctions on Israeli West Bank settlements (Image: Getty Images)
It would be deeply cynical to suggest that finishing off the Greens was the primary reason for announcing sanctions on Israeli settlements on the West Bank but the Palestinian crisis is an electrifying issue in UK politics. In the 2024 election, both Greens and independent candidates put Gaza at the heart of their campaigns; there is no reason to think that many voters will not again think about Palestinians when they decide who to back next time.
This is dangerous territory for Labour, a party pilloried for being soft on anti-semitism during the Jeremy Corbyn era. Many Labour figures will have felt deep unease when UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis described the sanctions as “gesture politics” which risked emboldening “those, at home and abroad, who use hatred as a weapon against Jews”.
As the BBC reported, the Community Security Trust recorded a 21% increase in anti-Jewish hate in the first six months of this year compared with 2025. If there is any evidence that hostility to Jews is tolerated at any level of the Labour movement, Mr Burnham’s foes will accuse him of allowing Sir Keir’s clean up job to go into reverse.
But Mr Burnham’s determination to stamp on challengers from the Left goes well beyond the Middle East and tears up the Blair-Mandelson era playbook.
There was genuine shock on Wednesday when in Prime Minister’s Questions he told the Conservatives’ Kemi Badenoch that “national security” cannot “come at the expense of social security”.
Andy Burnham shocked the Commons with his defence of ‘social security’ (Image: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire)
Far from bowing to Tory demands to cut welfare to fund Britain’s rearmament in the face of the Russian threat, Mr Burnham presented himself as the champion of “social security”. His words will be repeated in speeches at the upcoming Conservative conference and will doubtless appear on campaign leaflets.
It is possible this was a gaffe but that seems unlikely from a politician of Mr Burnham’s vast experience. He gives every sign of welcoming Tory attacks which will signal to the Left that he is the defender of the welfare state that Labour did so much to build.
This does not mean he will not tack to the Right as the general election nears, but now he wants to present himself as the 21st century embodiment of Labour’s proudest values.
He is a master of realpolitik, as demonstrated by his defenestration of landslide-winner Sir Keir from outside parliament. In what looks like another naked attempt to see off the Green threat in Holborn and St Pancras, it is reported that a decision on drilling in the North Sea’s Jackdaw gas field will be delayed until after the by-election.
When it comes to securing political power, Mr Burnham is ruthless.
Older state pensioners can cut BBC TV Licence bill to £0 in 16 minutes
A TV Licence currently costs £180 per year.
A TV Licence currently costs £180 per year (Image: Getty)
Older state pensioners across the UK can cut their TV Licence bill down to £0 in just 16 minutes if they meet certain criteria.
The annual fee for a TV Licence currently costs £180 and is due to rise again in April. The UK Government agreed that the TV Licence fee would increase in line with inflation for the remaining four years of the Charter period, which runs until the end of 2027, so another hike to bills is looming in early 2027. You need a TV Licence to watch or record programmes on a TV, computer, or other device on any channel or service as they are broadcast – including on-demand BBC programmes on BBC iPlayer, as well as live events on streaming services.
While most households must pay the annual £180 fee, it’s possible to get a TV Licence at a discounted rate in some cases and for some older pensioners, this fee can be avoided entirely, effectively cutting bills down to £0 simply thanks to one Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit: Pension Credit.
Pension Credit provides extra money to people who have reached State Pension age and are on a low income, and it is worth £4,300 per year on average, according to the DWP.
The benefit tops up your weekly income to £238 if you’re single, or your joint weekly income to £363.25 if you have a partner, but it also unlocks access to other financial support, too – including a free TV Licence if you’re aged 75 or over.
According to the DWP, it only takes 16 minutes on average to apply for Pension Credit and by doing so, you can unlock thousands of pounds worth of extra financial support.
The DWP said last year: “The online claim form – updated by the Work and Pensions Secretary after listening to the views of pensioners– means it now takes just 16 minutes on average to apply for Pension Credit and be eligible for up to £4,300, with 90 percent of new customers applying using the simple online form, or over the phone.”
If you already get Pension Credit, then you can apply for a free TV Licence when you’re 74, but you’ll need to continue paying for your licence until the end of the month before your 75th birthday. After this, you’ll be covered by your free licence.
Commenting on the perks of claiming the DWP benefit, Sarah Pennells, consumer finance specialist at Royal London, said: “Pension Credit is a valuable benefit because it is a ‘gateway’ benefit. That means, if you’re able to claim it, you may also be able to get help with housing costs (through Council Tax discount and Housing Benefit or Support for Mortgage Interest).
“You’re also eligible for a free TV licence if you’re aged 75 or over and you may be able to get help with NHS dental treatment, prescriptions and transport costs. If you’re entitled to these benefits, the state help you get could be very valuable and that could make a real difference to your finances.
For those who don’t meet the eligibility criteria for Pension Credit, there are other ways to reduce your TV Licence bill, or avoid the fee entirely.
If you no longer watch live on any channel, TV service or streaming service, or use BBC iPlayer, it may be worth cancelling your TV Licence and in some cases, you could be eligible for a refund if, before your licence expires, you won’t be doing any of the following:
- watching TV on any channel, like BBC, ITV, Channel 4, U&Dave and international channels
- watching TV on pay TV services, like Sky, Virgin Media and EE TV
- watching live TV on streaming services, like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video.
- using BBC iPlayer
This includes recording and downloading programmes on any device. But if you still need your TV Licence there are other ways to reduce the cost.
If you live in a residential care home, supported housing or sheltered accommodation, then you may be entitled to a reduced fee TV Licence, and if you’re blind (severely sight impaired) and can provide the appropriate evidence, you can apply for a 50% discount on your TV Licence. But if neither of these apply then you’ll have to pay for a TV Licence at the full rate.
TV licence: A look at reforms made to fee in 2022
If you don’t meet the eligibility criteria for Pension Credit or qualify for a reduced fee TV Licence, then there are still a few options to save money.
TV licences are per household, not per person, so if you live in a house with several people, you don’t all need to have one and could all chip in to share the cost of one licence. Instead, you can share a TV Licence among the whole household if you watch TV in a single shared area, or have a joint tenancy agreement. But if you have separate tenancy agreements and watch TV in your own room, then you will need to pay for your own.
You also don’t need a TV Licence to watch streaming services, such as Netflix and Disney Plus, on-demand TV through services like All 4 and Amazon Prime Video, videos on websites such as YouTube, or DVDs and Blu-rays.
So if you’re happy to just stick to watching any of these, and not watch or record any live TV or BBC iPlayer, you can save yourself £180 per year. But if you do watch or record live TV without a TV Licence, then you can be issued a fine of up to £1,000.