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After a downer last week, party leader approvals are up. Burnham is up 2 to +10. Badenoch jumps even more to +8 her highest net approval we’ve recorded. Davey is up 1 to -11, Lowe up 2 to -16, Farage up 2 to -26 and Polanski up 2 to -34.

🚨 WATCH: Andy Burnham attacks the Tories' proposed £36bn cuts to the welfare bill "They're putting a number before people... if they were to do that, there'd be another big number for the utter chaos that they cause in people's lives"

"I've been very clear that we do not support reparations." Prime Minister Andy Burnham on whether more UK taxpayers' money will be directed to Commonwealth countries as a result of the government being open to an apology for the UK's role in the slave trade.

Tories: we broke the immigration system Also Tories: we really really think you can trust us to fix it though

The latest predictions for the January Price Cap - AWFUL, up 28.8%! This is our internal MSE document where we average three forecasts and how its changed over the past few weeks as wholesale rates have continued to rocket. PS Jan prediction is getting much more locked in as we're 85% through the 19 August to 17 November 2026 assessment period. April & July predictions are much more crystal ballgazing.

'I don't think employers are working people.' @CamillaTominey grills Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Emma Reynolds MP, over whether Labour has breached its manifesto pledge in the Budget. 📺 Freeview 236, Sky 512, Virgin 604

The Renters’ Rights Act continues to produce the most painfully predictable consequences. thetimes.com/money/tax/artic…

Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade. If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade? On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before. Twenty-five years ago, Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History argued that cancelling the debts of poorer countries would give them a fresh start. More than $100 billion of debt was eventually written off, but many of those countries have since built up even bigger debts. Labour are already spending too much on Britain's welfare state, now is not the time for Andy Burnham to be providing global welfare. There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born. And I have even less patience for political elites in commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain. As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology. Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again. This is all another navel-gazing distraction. The Commonwealth should be looking forward, not endlessly backwards. That means economic partnerships to make us all richer and deeper military and security cooperation against common threats. If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.

12,000 jobs at Poundland are on the line. Wall Street shouldn’t be allowed to destroy a major British business to satisfy their investors. Burnham needs to act.

NEW: Andy Burnham has demanded answers about the insolvency of Poundland, which has its largest distribution centre in his constituency of Makerfield. The PM tells @Telegraph: "If there was a potential owner to avoid this that hasn’t been accepted, then the Business Secretary and I want to know why that is the case. We stand ready to support the workforce however we can.” Burnham wants to know why Gordon Brothers, the chain's owner, rejected a solvent bid from Ireland’s Martin Property Group for the entire Poundland business earlier this week. Story here with @LukeVanceBarr: telegraph.co.uk/business/202…

6am: Healey tells BBC he will bring down benefits bill before election 8:20: Treasury dispute the story 1pm: No10 disown it saying they have never set a target 2pm: PM says cuts as soon as possible 4pm: Healey says Labour won't bring bill down this Parliament

NEW: John Healey tells @krishgm the government will NOT bring the welfare bill down during this Parliament Chancellor says: “it's not correct to say that we're going to bring this welfare bill down in this Parliament” But in the same interview he says the system is “broken”

🚨 WATCH: Nigel Farage says he didn't attend the Budget in Parliament to "avoid a physical altercation" "Given my prayer card [to reserve a seat] was removed, I was heading towards another physical altercation... being a quiet, shy and modest person, I decided against it"