Andy Burnham has got cop killers’ release badly wrong – now he must listen and put it right

Listen, PM PM Andy Burnham is at last said to be considering a U-turn over the early release of the killers of PC Andrew Harper. It’s not a moment too soon. Our new Prime Minister likes to paint himself as a champion against injustice. Andy Burnham is at last said to be considering a U-turn over the early release of the killers of PC Andrew Harper Credit: AFP The killers of PC Harper are not being considered for release under a new Labour scheme, pictured tragic copper Credit: PA So how on earth did he ever end up on the side of two cop-killers? His original decision not to exempt Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole from Labour’s early prisoner release scheme has infuriated Andrew’s family and widow Lissie who have endured years of grief. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Senior police officers — including the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, the Met Commissioner and the senior detective who put Andrew’s killers behind bars — all say ordinary cops are being badly let down. Then there is the huge outpouring of public anger. READ MORE FROM THE SUN SAYS That is crystal clear in the 700,000 signatures on a petition demanding Cole and Bowers stay locked up. Burnham’s strategy was to blame prison overcrowding on the Tories and hope the problem goes away. But HE raised the hopes of Andrew’s family by pausing early releases entirely in response to their case. Officials are now apparently exploring a way to keep the PC’s killers locked up. Most read in The Sun Leadership is about more than putting out TikToks about scampi fries. It’s about doing the right thing, however difficult it is to get done. Burnham has got this badly wrong and it’s right that he reverses his mistake. Real danger THE last week has shown again the huge dangers to our society of failing to control our borders. Hundreds more unvetted migrants broke into Britain in the last seven days. Riots have broken out in normally sleepy Thetford, sparked by local unhappiness at illegal asylum seekers being housed in flats in the town. The weak-minded open borders mob within Labour loves to belittle the small boats crisis as an obsession whipped up by far-right racists. In fact, it’s a very real threat to our national security and, increasingly, to the safety of women and girls. Or don’t they care about that? What resolve? THE next time Andy Burnham shares a pint and pork scratchings with his Chancellor for the cameras perhaps they could find time to discuss defence spending? While the PM refuses to commit to a proper programme of re-arming, US intelligence believes Putin could attack a Nato country within weeks. The Pentagon fears Moscow wants to test Nato’s strength with a possible raid on Poland. Brits cannot afford, should Putin test Burnham’s resolve, for him to be found wanting. Comment now