News
Good morning and welcome to your Saturday morning Unbound Daily Briefing - here are the topics that we are covering on this sweltering weekend morning:
- Will Burnham Devolve More Powers to Mayors and Councils
- Heatwave Causes Spike in Energy Import as Solar Buckles
- Small Boats Back in Focus Over Military Camps For Migrants
- What will Burnham do over delayed EU Reset
Will Burnham Devolve More Powers to Mayors and Councils
It is now almost a certainty that, with no other contenders within the Labour Party having put themselves forward as a candidate for the top job, that former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham will be the new Prime Minister of the UK from the 20th July - and with that now all but set in stone, questions are now starting to be asked about what his policy choices will be. As a cross-party organization we of course wish him the best in his new role, and will focus our attention on the policies that are implemented by what will be his new Government (as it is unlikely to feature many of the current incumbents).
One of the areas receiving significant speculation, is whether or not his coronation will result in the medium-term in an increase in devolved powers for local councils and metropolitan mayors - and how such a policy and desire contradicts any perceived wish to return vast swathes of regulatory control back to the EU. The issue of where control resides within the UK, or in fact outside the UK, will continue to be of interest and focus for Britain Unbound.
Heatwave Causes Spike in Energy Import as Solar Buckles
It has emerged that earlier this week, during the peak of the heatwave and following solar panel failures in the extreme heat, the UK was paying 17 times the typical rate to import energy through the EU interconnectors from the Netherlands. Typically the UK pays in the region of £80 per megawatt hour, but on Wednesday evening it was paying £1,379 - over 17 times the typical rate. This usage and extortionate cost is estimated by The Telegraph to have cost the UK an additional £11 Million in just the few hours that this spike took place.
This reduction in capacity, and resultant need to import more energy than planned, is partially due to the reduction in solar panel efficiency at higher temperatures - which an academic paper in 2024 concludes is in the region of 0.3-0.5% reduction in energy output for every degree temperature increase above 25 degrees. This is another factor that our energy supply mix will need to take into consideration regarding renewables usage moving forward, as their reliability continues to come into question.
- Read the article from The Telegraph on the energy spike and very high costs
- Read the academic paper on the efficiency of solar panels
Small Boats Back in Focus Over Military Camps For Migrants
The arrival of small boat migrants into the UK has again increased in focus, with the summer months and calmer seas seeing higher volumes of crossings. In the week ending 21st June, 1912 migrants arrived in the UK via small boats from the northern coastlines of the EU - the highest volume in a week so far in 2026, and the 14th highest week ever. Far from smashing the gangs, this volume would appear to suggest that the small boat migrant issue is still very much an ongoing concern.
Meanwhile the UK Government have reported that a further 20 so-called asylum hotels have been closed down, leaving 170 hotels in the UK being used to house migrants. This push to move away from housing migrants in expensive hotels has seen the shift in accommodation over into other types of housing, and it has also been announced that a further three UK military bases are planned to be used to house migrants.
Questions are being asked as to whether or not the reallocation of these migrants into other types of housing are in fact cheaper than the hotels, and are not just an attempt to hide the problem rather than resolve it.
- Read the official data from the UK Government, on small boat migrant arrivals into the UK
- Read the BBC article on the use of military bases to house migrants
What Will Burnham Do Over Delayed EU Reset
With the resignation of the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and the aforementioned coronation of the only contender for the top job, Andy Burnham, the EU announced earlier this week that it would postpone the UK-EU Summit planned for 22nd July. It has been reported that this delay is through an expectation on the EU side that Burnham is more likely to make larger concessions to the EU than Starmer was willing to make, and so they wish to wait until he is in place so as to secure those concessions.
It is concerning that, before Burnham has even been made Prime Minister, there is an expectation from our allies on the continent that he is a more pliable and weaker opponent at the negotiating table, and so comes with an expectation of being able to be taken advantage of. This of course means that those first few weeks in office will be critical in showing the UK is not a pushover on the world stage.
With the Chagos deal, the Gibraltar deal and the sacrifice of 12 years of fishing access for quite literally nothing, it is difficult for us here in the Britain Unbound team to imagine a Prime Minister more willing to give things away than the now soon to be former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. So we very much hope that this is just a rumour, and that Burnham demonstrates an unwillingness to give away anything requested by the EU.
