Skip to content

Burnham: To drill or not to drill?

August 21, 2026 · 41 min

Show notes

Andy Burnham has been on a regional tour of the UK, delivering a steady stream of policies aimed at tackling social issues. But now comes the hard part: should he push ahead with new drilling in the North Sea? After a summer of drought and wildfires, can the prime minister make the case for more fossil fuel extraction? FT political editor George Parker stands in for Lucy Fisher as host, and is joined by Inside Politics columnist Stephen Bush, and deputy political editor Jim Pickard. Plus, after Sue Gray described working in Starmer’s government as ‘unbearable’, and a top UK civil servant was revealed to have received a £500,000 payout package, the panel reflects on what we have learned about Starmer’s premiership now that it’s over. 


George @GeorgeWParker and @georgewparker.bsky.social; Stephen @stephenkb; and Jim @PickardJE


Want more?

Burnham launches pandemic-style drive to cut rough sleeping

Andy Burnham faces climate test over North Sea oil decision

Are ‘dodgy’ vape shops choking Britain’s high streets?

Working in Starmer’s Number 10 was ‘unbearable,’ says Sue Gray

Jamie Dimon warns UK chancellor against higher bank taxes

Top UK civil servant received record £500,000 payout after Starmer sacking


Come and join the FT and Political Fix panelists at the FT Weekend Festival on Saturday, September 5 at Kenwood House Gardens in London. To save 10 per cent on tickets, visit ft.com/festival and use the discount code FTPODCAST.


You can also sign up here for Stephen Bush’s morning newsletter ‘Inside Politics’ for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek views. Get 30 days free.


Political Fix was presented by George Parker and produced by Persis Love. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Original music and audio mix by Breen Turner. Our broadcast engineers were Andrew Georgiades and Petros Gioumpasis. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All episodes of Political Fix

Settings

Display

Language

Decides which stations you see first on the home page.

History

Recently played stations and episodes and your latest searches are only stored in this browser.

Notifications

A short notice when a podcast you follow has a new episode. Turn off single podcasts with the bell on their page.

Account

Save favorites – in the app and on the website.

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Open search
Space
Play or pause
← →
In the player: back 15 s, forward 30 s (episodes) · in a row: next tile
↑ ↓
In a row: target within the tile
Home / End
In a row: first or last tile
Esc
Close window or menu
?
This overview
Now playing

Go to station page

Play next

    Add episodes with “Play next” – they play after the current episode.