Andy Burnham ‘made rod for his own back’ with pledge to end rough sleeping, fear insiders

ANDY Burnham has “made a rod for his own back” with his promise to end rough sleeping, Government insiders warn. On his first day as Prime Minister he vowed to end rough sleeping at the “earliest opportunity” and an additional £340million over five years. Andy Burnham has “made a rod for his own back” with his promise to end rough sleeping, Government insiders warn Credit: Getty Senior figures are worried that the PM has set himself up with an “impossible” task Credit: AFP But senior figures are concerned he has set himself up with an “impossible” task. One added: “If it was that simple, don’t you think we would have done it already?” Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! It comes as the PM heads into the second week of his summer tour focusing on rough sleeping, fly-tipping and toxic dumping. He will also spend time in the new Number 10 North during the week to mark a month since it was established. A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister wants to bring back hope that we can finally fix the difficult issues facing the country that have been ignored by Westminster for too long. “This includes taking on issues that others have said are intractable, like ending rough sleeping and resolving the toxic dump, fly-tipping and environmental vandalism scandal that is blighting communities across the UK. “The coming week will see the Prime Minister take on some of these issues as he continues his tour around the UK, which will inform his upcoming 10-year plan to make Britain better off.” It comes after Mr Burnham unveiled a £65 million funding package for farmers, amid fears hot, dry weather could drive up food prices on supermarket shelves. Most read in The Sun Comment now