Immigration fury & benefits bill… Andy Burnham’s daunting in-tray as he prepares to make first Commons speech as PM

ANDY Burnham will enter Parliament for the first time as Prime Minister today as he begins to set out his plans. He was only sworn into Parliament at the end of June after winning the Makerfield by-election last week. Andy Burnham’s main challenges include immigration, the economy and welfare spending Prime Minister Andy Burnham (right) and Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey will need to find extra cash to spend on uplifting the defence budget After a summer policy blitz he is facing a daunting in-tray of problems facing the country. Here are the six biggest challenges he faces: Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! Immigration Controlling immigration is one of the top priorities among voters – both legal net migration and the small boats crisis. Mr Burnham so far appears to be backing Shabana Mahmood’s reforms to cut the numbers and clamp down on Channel crossings. He said immigration must fall further and agreed with the “broad thrust” of the home secretary’s plans. Ms Mahmood has reformed Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) which means migrants will have to wait ten years instead of five to claim benefits. Almost 17,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far, down 43 per cent on the same time last year. Prisons The early release scheme was the first crisis Mr Burnham faced as PM. Most read in The Sun In one of his first acts he barred rapists, serious child sex and grooming offenders from being released early. But he hit the buffers when it emerged PC’s Harpers killers Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers could be released early. There were mounting calls for the PM to backtrack and block those convicted of manslaughter from early release. Mr Burnham has since expanded the list of people ineligible for early release and had consistently said he wanted to go further. Under the early release scheme some 4,500 prisoners are now expected to start being released in tranches from October to ease overcrowding in jails. There is a growing demand to prevent hardened criminals from being released early and build more prisons across the country. Justice Minister Alex Norris told LBC the early release scheme could continue in some form for the next decade. Defence Allies of Mr Burnham believe this will be the most difficult department to fund, while Sir Keir’s flagship Defence Investment Plan (DIP) appears to be on ice after his resignation. Mr Burnham has backed plans by ministers to increase defence spending, but signalled he would be relaxed in borrowing more money to fund the armed forces. After John Healey’s resignation he said he would reduce the welfare bill to spend more money on defence. But the next Chancellor has sparked a hypocrisy row after backpedalling on a military cash boost he previously demanded. He notoriously quit as Defence Secretary earlier this year after then-PM Sir Keir Starmer failed to put a timeline on when armed forces spending would hit 3 per cent of GDP. It remains unclear what taxes Mr Burnham would raise or what welfare cuts he would be willing to make to pay for this uplift. Welfare Attempting to slash the welfare bill shattered Sir Keir Starmer’s authority with Labour backbenchers, after his own party torpedoed efforts to cut benefits by a mere £6billion. At the time Mr Burnham joined the rebellion claiming the government had made “the wrong choice”, helping him win over friends on the Left of the party. But since then Mr Burnham has backtracked after admitting the welfare needed to be cut in a different way. Britain’s welfare bill is expected to soar to £400billion by the end of the decade and is increasingly unaffordable. Labour grandee Alan Milburn is preparing his final report on youth unemployment as almost one million under-25s remain out of work and education. Welfare minister Stephen Timms has also been looking at Britain’s ballooning disability benefits bill. But both reports are set to be released after the Budget and are unlikely to be tackled this year. Even trimming parts of it will be incredibly unpopular with many of his own MPsand supporters who helped him return to Parliament. Economy Mr Burnham inherits an economy plagued by sluggish growth, high taxes and enormous debt. He will set out his first Budget next month with difficult decisions on tax and spending yet to be made. Labour’s fiscal headroom has fallen from £22billion to £15billion in just one year. External factors such as the war in Iran has made the cost of oil more expensive and started to have an impact on prices for consumers. As Manchester mayor he advocated for stronger public ownership of transport and water and more spending which will cost billions of pounds. But he has vowed to stay within Rachel Reeves’ borrowing rules to avoid racking up debt, and so will have little money to play with. Brexit Resetting UK-EU relations was central to part of Sir Keir’s mission as prime minister. However, his government had strict red lines which ruled out bringing back free movement and rejoining the customs union. Mr Burnham in the past has said he would like to see the UK rejoin the European Union in the future. During the Makerfield by-election campaign he promised not to re-run the Brexit campaign and backtracked on his vision to rejoin the bloc. But last week it was reported Mr Burnham could be open to cutting university fees for EU students for more trade access. Comment now