Andy Burnham’s time away from No10 sparks concern inside Whitehall as Louise Haigh urges bold governing

NewsPolitics WHITEHALL mandarins are growing concerned by how little time Andy Burnham has spent in Downing Street since becoming PM. The new Prime Minister has kicked off his premiership with a tour of Britain, using his first days in office to announce a string of flagship policies rather than bedding into No10. Prime Minister Andy Burnham Credit: Reuters Secretary of State Louise Haigh Credit: Alamy His approach even prompted First Secretary of State Louise Haigh to joke at her Cabinet Office all-staff meeting earlier this week that No10 was “extremely distressed” by how often he was away from the building. She stressed the PM was simply “so dedicated and committed” to getting out into the country. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! But The Sun understands some Whitehall officials have expressed concern about how little time Mr Burnham has spent at the heart of Government during the crucial opening days of his premiership. Addressing civil servants, Ms Haigh urged officials to “take your cue from the Prime Minister’s ambition”. She said: “He is not the kind of politician that has to have a full plan before he starts diagnosing the problems in the country.” Instead, she said the PM would set the direction of travel before tasking officials with working out how to deliver it. Ms Haigh added: “Let’s start with the outcome and the vision and then let’s consider every possible way to achieve that, no matter how risky or politically unpalatable it seems. “Put it in front of us and let’s thrash it out.” Most read in The Sun Comment now